The Crank: Nissan EV only selling to the oldies

By John LeBlanc Here’s a good one: Instead of the young, hip buyers that you would think an electric-vehicle would attract—you know, the types of customers who are busy spending time updating their Facebook account and plotting ways to get Mom and Dad to pay for their next iPhone app—Nissan is saying that the average age of its Leaf electric vehicle pre-order U.S. buyer to date is above 50, while more than one out of three are over the age of 60. If you think this goes against all the marketing huff that EVs are for kids, get in line. Of course, a big reason for the Leaf’s aging owner group is its cost. I mean, it takes a lot of hours working at American Apparel to pay for the Leaf's $32,500 USD asking price. So why does the car of the future appeal to people who don’t have much of one? Is it guilt for all those 1970s land yachts and muscle cars Boomers bought in their salad days? Or is the Leaf—like every othr EV coming down the pipe—simply out of the price range of its intended demographic? [Sources: Nissan-Leaf]

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