Nissan to sell electric car for $25K

March 31, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday its new electric car will cost just over $25,000 in the U.S., a move that could force rivals to lower prices on similar vehicles.

The Leaf, a four-door hatchback due in showrooms late this year, will have a base price of $32,780, but buyers can get a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit, Nissan said.

The price tag puts the Leaf, which can go up to 100 miles on a single charge from a home outlet, within reach of mainstream car buyers, and it also will force competitors to respond when they introduce their cars.

General Motors Co., which also will begin selling its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car later this year, said that it will look at Nissan’s pricing before announcing the Volt’s price closer to its December sales date.

“I think it’s fair to say their pricing, it won’t overwhelm, but it will have some influence on our pricing decision,” said GM spokesman Rob Peterson.

GM was looking to price the Volt, which can go 40 miles on full electricity before a small gas engine kicks in to provide power, around $35,000. It would cost $27,500 with the tax credit.

But GM executives have said they are trying to lower the price as they begin building models at a Detroit factory.

Other competitors, such as Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, also plan to sell fully electric cars, but those will come out after the Volt and Leaf hit showrooms in December. The Volt and Leaf are the first two electric cars to go on sale that will appeal to the mass market.

Orders in the U.S. start April 20, and Nissan is aiming for 25,000 orders by December.

But Erich Merkle, president of the consulting company Autoconomy.com in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Nissan may be deliberately setting the price low and may even lose money to establish itself as the market leader.

GM maintains that the Volt is a better value than the Leaf because drivers don’t have to worry about running out of electricity. The car’s gas engine gives it nearly unlimited range, GM says.

Although the Volt can travel farther, GM still has to compete with the Leaf on price, especially among drivers who don’t drive that far or have a second car for long-distance travel, Merkle said.