Nissan is one of a handful of automakers that plans to have an electric vehicle to market by early next decade, but the buying experience of purchasing a Nissan EV will be slightly different from that of an internal combustion model. According to one Nissan executive, Nissan plans to sell its electric vehicles separately from the batteries required to run them.
Speaking at an event in Detroit, Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s executive vice president for product planning and design, revealed that Nissan plans to lease the batteries for its EVs separately from the vehicles themselves, according to Automotive News.
Although this seems like just another added step in the buying process, Tavares assured that there would be no “additional inconvenience for the consumer.” Tavares also noted that since there would be no need to fill up at the pump, the cost of ownership would be similar to that of a gasoline-powered vehicle, even with the added cost of leased batteries.
If all goes according to plan, Nissan will have its first electric vehicle to market by 2010, with wide-spread production coming on line in 2012.
