Misaki Masami, Vice General Manager of Nissan China, handed the key of a Nissan Leaf to officials of Shanghai International Automobile City (SIAC) on August 21, offering free test rides of the all-electric to the public in a designated EV demonstration zone.

In the pilot program operated in Anting in the Jiading district of Shanghai, the Leaf joins a fleet of pure-electric and plug-in vehicles including Chevy Volt, Coda Sedan, Volvo C30 EV, Toyota Prius.

While Nissan has been selling the Leaf for almost two years in Japan and the US, Chinese consumers have to wait until next year to have chance to test drive it at dealerships. According to some reports, the Leaf for the Chinese market will be locally made and carrying the Venucia instead of Nissan logo (see pics of the Venucia EV at 2012 Beijing Auto Show).

Besides providing test-drives to the general public and experts, SIAC through the pilot program also runs an EV dealership, which had reportedly sold more than 30 vehicles by June this year.

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