The Nissan Leaf won’t go on sale until later this year, but Nissan already predicts a shortage of the all-electric vehicles within three months of it hitting the market.
The automaker says it already has 7,000 pre-orders in the United States and another 4,000 in Japan, with pre-orders in the United Kingdom set to begin in July. All told, Nissan expects demand for the first mass-market all-electric car to outstrip supply in a relatively short time.
From a PR perspective, just putting this information out there is a good move. After all, what makes consumers want a product more than knowing there is not enough of it to go around? It’s the Tickle Me Elmo theory of creating buzz.
However, Nissan must also control expectations of what an electric car can do. Hence, if you sign up for a Leaf, you’ll be asked how far you drive each day. Nissan’s chairman of the Americas told Automotive News that dealers may redirect customers to other vehicles if their driving needs or living situations would make owning an all-electric vehicle a burden.
