Ghosn, though, focused on the practicalities, reiterating Nissan’s plan that the Leaf, which runs a 100 miles on a single charge, excluding the cost of the batteries, will cost no more to buy and run than a traditional gasoline-powered car. Zero-emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, he said, are a bonus. Charging time is seven hours, although a 30-minute quick charge can get batteries back up to 80% of full power.
Key to its success will be bringing down the cost of the batteries, which currently cost around $10,000 per car to make. Sensibly, Nissan plans to lease the batteries to customers rather than try to sell the car at an inflated price. Initially, the carmaker will share the burden by taking advantage of government subsidies and cheap loans to ensure sales are profitable from day one. The challenge will be to get costs down to a sufficient level by the time governments begin scaling back incentives
Introducing the Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle - BusinessWeek 
While the Tesla is a great looking car and is well along in the development process it is very expensive at the moment and without a major car company to market it. it will remain a niche car in the expensive mode. The Volt while another nice car is what GM is putting a lot of it's marbles and hopes in. It would seem that Nissan will beat them to the punch when it comes to the low-cost and marketing to the general public. While the Volt is a very insteresting car it does seem that Government Motors has been outdone once again by both Tesla and Nissan in their well published Volt.