To ease potential EV buyers' minds about leaving the gas powered-world, Nissan may provide LEAF purchasers in Europe - and perhaps even the United States - with a week's worth of free gas-powered car rentals per year, according to an article from PluginCars at Reuters.com.
A column written Oct. 10 by the Europe-based Neil Winton reported that Nissan's Senior Vice President Andy Palmer said that Nissan might offer a week's worth of rentals to LEAF owners so that they could go on longer trips occasionally. And the Detroit Bureau quotes an unnamed "well-placed, high-ranking Nissan source" as saying that Nissan was considering doing the same for North American LEAF owners as well.
Katherine Zachary, a spokesperson for Nissan North America, told PluginCars that Nissan Europe was in discussions about implementing the strategy, but she added that Nissan North America is not currently actively pursuing this marketing strategy in the U.S. She added that Nissan is considering the free rental program for international markets where there are fewer two car households than in the United States.
But the one week of rental time may still not make the LEAF a viable car for most one car households to cover the annually-needed long distance driving of an average owner. PluginCars called Nissan's idea would be a bold move "that should allay the 'range anxiety' fears of much of the population."