Nissan Leaf delayed on UK launch date

Most customers who began ordering their new Nissan Leaf nearly a year ago will be all smiles today, but some have been informed that they will have to wait a little longer to get behind the wheel of their new electronic car.

A number of the electronic hatchbacks, which are shipped directly from Japan, have suffered delays. Some of the cars have hazard warning bleeper that must be removed before they can be driven in this country.
A spokeswoman said: “An intermittent beeping noise is fitted as standard to commercial vehicles such as buses and lorries, but UK law states that the sound must be capable of being disabled between 11.00pm and 6.00am. The audible system on the Leaf did not allow for that to be done, so the beeping sound is being removed entirely before the cars can be driven on roads in this country.”

This excuse will not impress a number of the 500 customers who expected delivery of their new car today.
The Leaf, which is the first mainstream electronic car in the UK, has been the darling of automotive critics, unanimously winning Auto Express’s award for new innovation, 8 months before release.
However, potential Leaf owners will suffer more bad news, as the electronic hatchback will jump in price by £2,000 from the 1st March – Nissan are pointing their finger at a rise in raw material costs. A Nissan spokesperson was keen to stress that existing pre-orders would not be affected by the increase in price.
Nissan still expect the car, which is subsidised by a £5,000 government grant in the UK, to sell 250,000 units worldwide by 2013 including 50,000 this year, even in the face of increasingly stiff competition from other manufacturers, mainly the new Chevrolet Volt.

They will hope the Leaf’s purely electronic engine will triumph over the hybrid offering of the Volt, which travels shorter distances on its electronic engine; though it also has a petrol engine for backup. Both companies have invested heavily in the new technologies and will wish for smoother marketing campaigns.
Some say the stakes are so immense, that this battle will decide the future of the electronic car in a Betamax versus VHS fashion.

Though it seems the battle for the champion of the electric car has begun, amidst a wave of controversy and false starts.

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