SAN FRANCISCO --- Nissan North America Inc. said it is working with the city of San Francisco to further development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the nine-county region. 

The cities of Oakland and San Jose, county governments in the Bay Area and other public and private stakeholders are participants in the regional EV Corridor program. 

As part of the collaboration, Nissan has committed to making the Nissan Leaf zero-emission, all-electric vehicle commercially available in the Bay Area upon its debut in December 2010. Nissan will work with San Francisco and the region to promote and develop a vehicle-charging infrastructure, including home charging. Efforts will also focus on streamlining the process for installing charging equipment. The Nissan Leaf will be the pilot vehicle for the implementation of this streamlined process. 

"Nissan is committed to the San Francisco market and is looking forward to working with the city and others in the partnership to make zero emissions a reality throughout the Bay Area," said Brian Carolin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America. "In one year, Nissan Leaf zero-emission vehicles will be driving on the streets of San Francisco." 

"We are making every effort to have the infrastructure ready when the Nissan Leaf arrives and we are extremely pleased to have Nissan as a collaborative partner in making that happen," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "This collaboration stems from Nissan's recognition of the aggressive work we are doing to make the San Francisco Bay Area the nation's EV capital." 

In November 2008, Newsom, San Jose Mayor Chuck Read and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums pledged to make the Bay Area the "EV Capital of the U.S." Stemming from that pledge, the Bay Area EV Corridor program was formed as the organizational structure through which municipal governments in the nine-county region and private stakeholders coordinate efforts to make the region EV-ready. Nissan is a participant in the project. 

Nissan and the city of San Francisco announced the collaboration at San Francisco City Hall, where the Nissan Leaf made a stop on its nationwide tour.