Nissan Leaf’s US production run already spoken for

New York Times : Demand in the US for Nissan’s small electric car, the Leaf , is so high that customers have already taken up all 19 000 spots on the car’s waiting list, six months before the first cars arrive in dealerships. Nissan says it might even suspend pre-orders. Like most small cars on the market, the Leaf has a front-mounted engine that drives the front wheels. The battery-powered electric engine provides up to 80 kW of power (110 hp) and a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph). The battery holds 24 kWh of energy, which is enough to drive about 160 km (100 miles), and takes 20 hours to fully recharge from a typical power socket installed in US and Japanese houses.