Nissan Leaf is top selling electric car – but numbers still low

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LEAFv8_pos01_modBThe numbers still aren’t fantastically high, but the Nissan Leaf is the UK’s top selling electric car. A total of 6,838 of the battery powered cars were sold in UK at the end of the last year, putting the Nissan Leaf in top spot, ahead of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with 5,273 sales.  In third spot was the BMW i3 with sales of just 1,534.

The numbers, revealed by the RAC Foundation, follow a £5,000 grant scheme in 2011 for people with the least polluting cars and £8000 available for vans. Says Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation:  “Sales of the greenest cars are accelerating fast, but it is illuminating to see which manufacturers are benefitting.”

According to Glaister the reason the Outlander is doing quite well in terms of sales is because it is priced as attractively as its petrol and diesel equivalents. The Outlander sells for around £28,000 including grant. The Nissan Leaf starts at £16,490.

Chris Price
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