Contrary to some of the recent rumors, at a base price of $32,780 it is relatively affordable… so affordable, in fact, that, after the $7,500 federal tax credit, Nissan is able to offer the LEAF for a lease price of $349 a month not including generous state incentives. When you add in some of those — like a $5,000 tax credit in California, up to $6,000 in Colorado, $5,000 in Georgia, and $1,500 in Oregon — all of a sudden you might be talking a final price of around $20K. [emphasis added.]

If that assessment by Gas 2.0 is correct, then the Leaf will be less expensive than the Toyota Prius.  And, if this combination of incentives and pricing strategy holds for other companies including GM’s Chevy Volt, then we could see a serious, industry-wide rollout of electric vehicles over the next several years.  This would be in stark contrast to the half-hearted and sporadic attempts of the past.