Pure-electric vehicles could account for 10 per cent of all new car purchases by 2020, Carlos Ghosn, head of the Renault-Nissan alliance, predicted on Sunday as he unveiled the Leaf, an emissions-free family hatchback the Japanese carmaker is aiming at mass-market buyers.
Mr Ghosn said at Nissan's new global headquarters in Yokohama, south of Tokyo: “We don't see the electric car as a niche car. We see it as a mass-market car.”
Powered by an 80kW electric motor and rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the Leaf will be introduced in Japan and the US late next year. From 2012, when Nissan aims to begin selling the Leaf worldwide, it plans to build 200,000 of thm a year – by far the most ambitious production target for an all-electric vehicle.