A few hours after Chevrolet announced its pricing structure for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Nissan have responded with details of the warranty it will offer on its 2011 all-electric Leaf.

At the Plugin 2010 Conference in San Jose, California, Carlos Tavares, Nissan's executive vice president and head of operations in America,  told a packed audience of industry professionals, commentators and enthusiasts it would be offering an eight year, 100,000 mile warranty on the Leaf's all-electric drivetrain, battery and charging systems.

The warranty is exactly the same level of coverage as Chevrolet offers on its 2011 Volt.

While many consumers had hoped for a longer ten year, or 150,000 mile warranty,  the warranty Nissan is offering is in line with that offered on the Leaf's gasoline counterparts and we're happy that it will be adequate for most consumers.

More importantly though, is the levelling of the field between Chevrolet's 2011 Volt and Nissan's 2011 Leaf after this announcement.

Both cars offer customers the chance to experience all-electric driving. Both offer the same warranty. And both are fighting to become the most popular plug in car of the year.

We had a chance to drive the 2011 Nissan Leaf earlier this week in preparation for the Plug-In 2010 conference and we were extremely pleased with how the car handled. While we only had half an hour behind the wheel, we loved the integrated navigation system which helped us to figure out just how far we'd be able to go on a charge.

We'll be driving the 2011 Leaf again this Friday, so watch out for more thoughts on one of the most eagaerly anticipated electric cars this year.

Let the electric sales war between Nissan and Chevrolet begin.

[bloomberg]