Fleets are finally switching on to the advantages of EVs, according to Nissan’s managing director Jim Wright.
In the past few months Nissan has experienced a changing in fleet buying behaviour for the electric Leaf.
Where previously firms have been sold one or two vehicles, which have usually been used on pool fleets to test the water for EVs, Nissan claims that businesses are now coming to them to buy the car.
Speaking to BusinessCar, Wright said: “Companies were buying one or two to try the technology by putting them on the pool fleet.
“They were testing them; however, in the past three to four months we’ve had people asking for us to talk to them about the Leaf. The level of curiosity is immense.
“However, we’ve found that the buying cycle is very long on the Leaf. It can be more than six months from interest to purchase. It’s nothing like that on a traditional car.”
Wright added that business interest for Nissan’s eNV200 electric van, which goes on sale in May, has exceeded expectations: “eNV on the commercial vehicle side is a game-changer for business because it’s very much about the cost factors.
“It equates to 100km costing less than £1.50 versus £6.60 for a combustion-engined equivalent.”
Meanwhile, Wright added that Nissan would reintroduce a conventional C-segment hatchback later this year to replace the long-defunct Almera. He confirmed the car would not reintroduce the Almera name.