The Nissan Leaf will be priced from 3.76 million yen (£27,000) in Japan and $32,780 (£21,700) in the US, signalling the company is planning to rely on government subsidies to make it affordable.
The Japanese price, announced today, is about a million yen (£7200) below the Japanese asking price for Mitsubishi's i-MiEV electric car, but significantly greater than the current best-selling eco car, the Prius, which starts at two million yen (£14,400).
However, government subsidies will drop the Leaf price by a around one million yen, to three million yen (£21,500), in Japan, and by about a quarter to £16750 in the US.
"The most important point of our cars is zero-emissions," Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan, said while promoting the low ownership costs of the Leaf. "Hybrid vehicles still consume gasoline. I want to fully push this sales point."
The Leaf will go on sale later this year in Europe and the United States.
Nissan said it aims to sell 6000 Leaf cars, its first mass-volume all-electric model, in Japan over the next 12 months. Orders open next month, with deliveries due in December.
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