Nissan to Pull the Plug on Pioneering EV

As the global auto industry races to electrify its vehicles, an icon of the segment is on its last legs.

As the global auto industry races to electrify its vehicles, a pioneer of the segment is reportedly on its last legs.

Automotive News reports that Nissan is preparing to discontinue the groundbreaking Leaf after more than a decade.

The Leaf was far ahead of its time: it debuted in 2010 as an electric vehicle aimed squarely at the average car buyer.

But the Japanese automaker overestimated the public’s appetite for an EV that could go less than 75 miles on a charge.

Although it was long the world’s top-selling EV, less than 175,000 Leafs have been sold to date.

Tesla’s mass-market debut, the Model 3, quickly surpassed it in recent years, and other automakers are jumping into the market.

Nissan, however, is not bowing out of the electric vehicle game.

As the Leaf rides into the sunset, the company plans to introduce 15 battery-electric models by the beginning of the next decade.

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