European journalists have been driving the Nissan LEAF and first reviews are beginning to appear – “a great idea and potentially a great car” was one comment we obviously liked.

One interesting theme emerging from these initial test drives is that journalists are going to have to find new ways to assess electric vehicles.

We have yet to launch them in the showrooms but our electric cars are already winning awards.

The Alliance EVs are the editor’s choice in this year’s Green Awards run by What Car?, the leading UK consumer motoring magazine.

The Editor’s Award is made by magazine chief Steve Fowler who said: “The electric car has come of age – and that’s down to the Renault-Nissan Alliance. While other manufacturers are still making plans and running trials, Renault and Nissan have beaten them to the punch with proper electric cars you’ll actually be able to buy and run by this time next year. You’ll want one, too."

Fowler added that cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence will change people’s perceptions of electric motoring for good.

Last week, the Alliance confirmed the next step in its partnership with Bajaj Auto by signing an MOU to build an affordable four-wheel vehicle for India and other emerging markets.  Although this was an expected milestone in a single program, it also represents a larger more significant strategic direction for the Alliance: mobility for all.

In a recent story in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, Professor Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the University of Duisberg-Essen made reference to a proposed BMW electric vehicle, comparing it to other automakers product plans: “I don’t know of any other manufacturer that has conceived of a car exclusively as an electric vehicle,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “The rest are based on conventional cars.”

Not quite.

In fact, the Nissan LEAF, the world's first mass-marketed electric vehicle, was created from the ground-up to be only an electric car. It is not based on any other Nissan product. The Nissan LEAF goes on sale in Japan, US and select markets in Europe later this year. Further, two of the concept vehicles shown by Renault at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show - the Twizy ZE and ZOE ZE - will lead to production vehicles that are also developed from the start to be only electric.

Some 40 analysts and investors recently spent a full day in Japan getting a deep dive into the Alliance’s EV strategy.

It was their first opportunity to drive Nissan LEAF, visit the AESC battery production plant and discuss with senior Alliance management our EV business model.

Four main topics were the focal point for day. In summary:

Some weeks ago I told you about the sound of EVs and the growing concern regarding quiet cars and pedestrians safety. In 2007, Nissan started real world field research in collaboration with universities and institutions to develop a new type of audio visibility for pedestrians, and particularly for those visually impaired and young children.

“...I want to talk about the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009… about how governments intervened during this time of crisis… and about how those interventions have changed the course of the global automobile industry for years to come.  “