In a brand new study, over 6,500 Nissan LEAF owners across the UK were able to feedback on their electric vehicle experiences. The results were extremely positive with the majority of LEAF drivers saying they would never buy a conventionally-powered car again.
More than nine in 10 owners (93%) now use their Nissan LEAF electric vehicle as their main family car, and 64% say it’s better to drive than a petrol or diesel vehicle.
The new research not only highlighted the significant financial savings made by LEAF owners; it also showed that, although often being purchased as a second car, for many motorists the Nissan LEAF grown to become the main family car.
With a cost per mile of just two pence or less, the 89% of those surveyed reported significant savings against more traditionally-fuelled cars. One driver calculated that he had spent just £400 travelling more than 22,000 miles in his Nissan LEAF, with many reporting savings of £200-250 per month.
Nissan Motor GB Limited Managing Director, James Wright, said: “Electric car ownership was a big step for motorists to take when we launched the LEAF in 2011 but we are now seeing that owners who were bold enough to take that step are reaping the benefits.
“The issues that the naysayers said would hinder ownership have not materialised and, in fact, the feeling from LEAF owners is that they would never go back to a traditional combustion engine. We were the first to bring a mass-produced electric car to market, so it stands to reason that we are also the first to prove the genuine viability of electric motoring.”
More than one in two owners admitted they would never go back to a conventionally-powered car, 41% said the car has positively changed the way they drive and a unanimous 95% of them were happy to recommend it to a friend.
Word certainly seems to be circulating about the LEAFs performance and practicality, with Nissan announcing their best ever sales month in September. The battery-electric Nissan LEAF sold a record 851 cars in the UK, which is more than double the number sold in the same month last year and the largest volume ever sold in one month in a European market.
So far, Nissan’s Sunderland factory has built 24,000 LEAFs, with 147,000 sold globally since launch.
Nissan
