Nissan LEAF General Public Reservation Opens Today in Europe

Reservations for the Nissan LEAF will officially open to the general public starting today in Portugal and the Republic of Ireland.

Nissan’s additional lead market for LEAF electric vehicle in Europe, the UK, has also confirmed that pre-orders will commence on September 1.

The ordering process is a first step in securing a place on the list to receive the ground-breaking Nissan LEAF and means Portuguese, Irish and British customers will be first in line to receive the car in Europe when it launches early next year. Nissan LEAF deliveries begin in Portugal in January, Ireland in February and the UK in March.

Nissan LEAF will be priced at under €30,000 after incentives in most of its European launch markets. This means that the LEAF electric vehicle will cost, almost €10,000 more than the U.S. price, which is set at $32,780 (€25,800)  before a federal tax credit of $7,500 (€5,900).

Since March, nearly 12,000 customers in Europe have signed up for regular updates on Nissan LEAF’s introduction, and in the US and Japan pre-orders have exceeded 23,000 units since online reservations began in April.

Such high demand has meant the Nissan LEAF will launch slightly later than planned in the Netherlands. Sales are now expected to start in June 2011, with pre-orders opening to customers in October this year. All other market launch dates remain unchanged.

To make a reservation, customers will be required to pay a €300 reservation fee, which is fully refundable. These ‘early adopters’ will also be given an opportunity to test-drive Nissan LEAF thoroughly by December, at which point they will need to formally confirm their order.