Nissan Oz Puts Would-Be Leaf Buyers to Test

Some aspiring buyers of Nissan Australia’s Leaf electric vehicle are being turned away after “failing” a 2-stage test to see if they would be suitable owners of the EV.

The test involves five website questions about their intended use of the car, followed by a visit by electrical supplier Origin Energy for an assessment of the suitability of the customer’s home electrical network.

A report in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper says some applicants have been ruled out as Leaf buyers when it goes on sale Down Under on June 1.

“It's really no different from a standard dealer customer ‘qualification’ of customer's needs and use patterns for any car purchase,” Nissan Australia spokesman Jeffrey Fisher says in an email to WardsAuto.

“We help them assess their ability to recharge and costs involved.”

The five website questions include asking how far a person usually drives, with options ranging from 20 km (12.5 miles) to more than 150 km (93.75 miles).

Another asks if the would-be buyer drives a short commute or through congested or peak traffic and on highways or freeways.

There also are questions about where the Leaf will be parked, both day and night.

Those who pass the two tests will receive a certificate allowing them to buy the A$51,500 ($50,290) Leaf at one of Nissan’s special EV dealerships.

The Age quotes Nissan Australia Model Line Manager James Staveley as saying about 100 buyers have been approved and another 100 are being assessed. He confirms some would-be buyers have been rebuffed.

“If you answered that you regularly drive from Melbourne to Sydney, then we might have politely informed the customer that this is not the car for them,” Staveley says.

Based on the Leaf’s 73-mile (122-km) range as rated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EV would have to recharged seven times to make the 520-mile (837-km) trip between the two Australian cities.

“The majority of customers we have declined have been because they don’t have off-street parking available to them, which we consider essential for a safe and convenient recharging environment,” Staveley adds.

A telephone-book-sized recharging station adds A$2,700 ($2,630) to the price, but plugging the Leaf directly into a 15-amp power outlet – which is the minimum infrastructure required and costs several hundreds of dollars to install – will take five hours longer to fully charge the car.

“It’s the customer’s choice, but we’d really prefer that people take the option of the recharging station, because then we know it’s being properly and appropriately installed and minimizes the risk of anything going astray,” Stavely says.

The newspaper report drew a number of website comments for and against the auto maker’s selection policy.

One called it rubbish.

“First Nissan comes out saying this car will revolutionize the world with an entry-level price of around A$22,000 ($21,484), then they come back with an amended figure of $50,000 and now you have to pass a series of tests to buy it … c'mon,” the writer says.

But another backs Nissan.

“The applicants for this car were not going to use it for its intended purpose (short- distance and inner-city driving with off-street parking to recharge), so they were not deemed suitable for something that is still considered new and untested in the real world,” this writer says. “Seems fair to me.

“Some people are forgetting the technology isn't perfected yet, so it makes sense to me to be picky about the people who are going to be using it.”

Stavely tells the newspaper Nissan intends to maintain its selection criteria “to ensure our customers have a great experience with the Leaf.”