Regulators have rated the electric Nissan Motor Co Ltd Leaf car at an equivalent of 99 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.
The Leaf’s driving range was rated at 73 miles by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a window sticker required on any new vehicle to be sold to consumers, Nissan said.
Nissan has designed the Leaf for a 100-mile (160 kilometer) range rated under a method used in California that differs from the system used by the EPA.
The Leaf is one of a handful of mass-market fully electric or extended range plug-in vehicles that are slated to reach consumers in the next year. Nissan is the first automaker to disclose an EPA rating on one of the vehicles.
General Motors Co expects to begin shipping Chevrolet Volt plug-in cars to customers in December. Ford Motor Co expects to deliver its first electric Focus compact cars late next year.
Nissan said the EPA label includes a seven-hour charging time for the Leaf, which carries a $32,780 retail price. The price to consumers will be reduced substantially by a $7,500 federal tax credit and state incentives.
The Leaf will be eligible for $5,000 of incentives from the state of California, making the electric car price competitive with the industry’s top-selling hybrid, the Toyota Prius.
The Leaf is scheduled to go on sale in December in five U.S. states: California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Tennessee. Nissan plans to sell it in Texas and Hawaii starting in January and add other U.S. markets later in the year.
The EPA sticker rates the Leaf at the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon in city driving and 92 in highway driving to reach the combined rating.
