What's it cost to prep a Nissan dealership for the Leaf?

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan

The Nissan Leaf appears, at first glance, to be a heck of a lot easier to service than a conventional car. Without a gas tank, fuel pump, crankshaft, valvetrain or a complicated multi-speed transmission, maintaining a Leaf should relatively easy, right? However, with its high-tech gadgetry, the Leaf certainly requires service by skilled technicians with working knowledge of electric autos and, for Nissan dealers interested in selling the electric hatch, some expensive diagnostic and other specialized equipment must be obtained as well.

So, what's it cost to prep a Nissan dealership for the arrival and sales of the automaker's electric Leaf? Well, there are three main requirements, outlined by Green Car Reports, that each dealership must meet if it intends to sell the Leaf:

• Publicly available charging stations: Stores have to commit two of them to be available to the public and out in the parking area; two more are required for back-of-shop.
• Training: They had to have two of their technicians trained to deal with the battery packs, high voltage, and electric vehicle repair issues.
• Equipment: The Leaf's battery packs weigh 600 pounds, so special lifts are required to take the battery down and roll it around. Special high-voltage gloves and flash suits are required for some tasks.

Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning and strategy, suggests that meeting these requirements would set a dealer back an estimated $25,000 to $75,000. Perry claims that 97 percent of Nissan dealers are willing to do what's necessary to sell the Leaf, which leads us to believe that the associated costs must be reasonable enough.

[Source: Green Car Reports | Image: rutlo - C.C. License 2.0]

What's it cost to prep a Nissan dealership for the Leaf? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://green.autoblog.com/2010/12/24/whats-it-cost-to-prep-a-nissan-dealership-for-the-leaf/

luigino racing racing memorabilia racing swim suits