Electric Car for Sunderland

19 Mar 2010

Nissan announce the Leaf, a five-door electric hatchback to be built at their Sunderland factory. Apparently it will be about the same size and the same price as a Ford Focus, but would you buy one?

Maybe as a second car, but the problem is the range of only 100 miles. You can recharge it 80% - if you can find a recharge point - but unlike a plug-in hybrid it has no petrol motor so until it's charged up it just won't go.

If you just drive around town, if you do an average commute, it could be attractive. Electricity is much cheaper than petrol, for the moment at least, and there will be no road tax. What will resale values be like? How long will the batteries last? We'll have to wait and see!