Hawaii To Get First Nissan Leafs, California Bummed Out

By David Parsons

David Parsons

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Hawaii To Get First Nissan Leafs, California Bummed Out
First, Downey, California gets jilted by Tesla, shacking up in Toyota’s house in Fremont. Now... Read More

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961 views Jun 1, 2010

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First, Downey, California gets jilted by Tesla, shacking up in Toyota’s house in Fremont. Now, Nissan selects Hawaii as the launch site for the first U.S.-spec Leafs. Hollywood must be crying into their lattes

"Nissan is looking forward to bringing the all-electric Nissan Leaf to the people of Hawaii," said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Nissan North America. "Through its work in fostering zero-emissions mobility throughout the state, Hawaii is demonstrating that it is EV-ready. These efforts, along with strong consumer interest, led us to name Hawaii as an early launch market for the Nissan Leaf."

Next up in the mutual admiration society, Hawaii’s governor released a statement thanking Nissan: "We appreciate Nissan's recognition of Hawaii as a global model for electric vehicles and a leader in clean energy," said Governor Linda Lingle. "The introduction of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle will build on Hawaii's progress to end our state's over-reliance on imported fossil fuels and increase our energy security."

Why on Earth Nissan would pick Hawaii over California for this “honor” is beyond me. Perhaps this is a two-for-one deal. The Leaf team has been working very hard for a long time on bringing the Leaf to market. Maybe Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan, decided that he could reward many of those well-paid sales and marketing people who so laboriously hand-built all those prototypes with a free vacation in beautiful Hawaii.

After all, who would want to be bothered with all that free publicity in Hollywood? All those starlets and beautiful people, like Ed Begley Jr, falling all over themselves and each other to pat Nissan on the back?And, of course, you just can’t compare those beautiful beaches, and palm trees, and shapely bikinis to the Hawaiian Islands. Where’s the Governator when you need him?

Maybe Nissan just wants a place where range is limited, and there will be little, if any, range anxiety. After all, how far can you go in Hawaii before you run into the ocean?

[Nissan]