The Nissan Leaf was the first mass-produced zero-emission car sold globally by Nissan.
Nissan introduced the five-door Leaf in Japan and the United States in December 2010. Unlike a hybrid, it uses a battery and electric motor without an internal-combustion engine. Its name is an acronym for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car.
The first-generation Leaf used a 24 kWh lithium-ion battery and had an official range of about 117 kilometres under the original Japanese test cycle. Later versions increased both battery capacity and range. The car was assembled in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The Leaf is sometimes confused with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which also launched around 2009–2010, but Nissan marketed the Leaf as a practical, globally produced family hatchback. It became one of the earliest electric cars to achieve large-scale consumer sales and helped make battery-electric vehicles familiar outside specialist markets.