In a move that’s bound to draw some attention, Nissan said it is expanding the “No Charge to Charge” promotion in the U.S., providing two years of no-cost public charging with the purchase or lease of a new Nissan Leaf. The promotion will launch in 25 U.S. markets, which together make up more than 80 percent of Leaf sales.

Users will be given the new EZ-ChargeSM card that will provide them with access to the leading EV charging networks. New Leaf owners will receive an EZ-Charge card that will allow them to use chargers from ChargePoint, Blink Network from Car Charging Group, AeroVironment and NRG eVgo.

“Public charging is an important way to provide added range confidence to EV buyers and persuade more shoppers to join the more than 110,000 LEAF drivers around the world,” said Fred Diaz, senior vice president, Nissan Sales & Marketing, Aftersales.

“No Charge to Charge” will launch using the EZ-Charge card on July 1, 2014, in 10 of the top markets for Nissan Leaf sales, including San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston and Washington, DC.

The new promotion and EZ-Charge card will be provided retroactively to buyers in these markets who purchased their LEAF on or after April 1, 2014.

After the rollout in the first 10 markets, Nissan plans to introduce the promotion to at least 15 additional markets during the following year.

By Dan Mihalascu

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