The launch in Portugal in January of Nissan's Leaf marks the start of the rollout in Europe of what the company says is the first 100 percent electric car aimed at a mass market. Nissan targeted Portugal - where it will also soon be assembling batteries for the Leaf - after that country's government agreed to setting up a national network of charging points.
In fact, the network is to be compatible with any make of electric car, and is part of still more ambitious long-term plans for a genuinely "smart grid" that could help Portugal make fuller use of its fast-expanding renewable energy capacity.
In early December, amid ultra-modern architecture at the former site of the Expo 98 World Fair in Lisbon, members of the Portuguese public got the chance to test drive the Leaf.
Portuguese consumers are curious about electric cars
Comments ranged from the polite to the enthusiastic, with the lack of engine noise the most obvious characteristic of what at first glance looks like a regular five-seater family run-around. But the very lack of engine noise creates some new "problems."
"For instance, the headlamps have a specific design to avoid air going to the mirrors," said António Joaquim, the communications director of Nissan Iberia Portugal.
"The exterior mirrors on a normal car produce a lot of noise with the wind. But on this car, which doesn't make any noise from the engine, all the very small noises that on other cars are not perceptible are - let's say, uncomfortable."
The more obvious matter of charging the car seems straightforward: a small panel on the bonnet opens to reveal something rather similar to an ordinary electric plug.
"If you want to charge when you are parking inside a garage in your own house or in a shopping centre, it's better to have it on the bonnet," Joaquim added. "It's a completely different usage from a combustion engine. You just charge the car during your daily life."
Charging stations are scarce for now, but are expected to increase
There are two charging options: a partial quick charge, for example when you are on the motorway and do not want to stop for long, or a cheaper slow charge of up to eight hours.
Prospective buyers in Lisbon seemed to take the limitations of electric cars on board.
"It's a nice car, and a good prospect for someone like me who has an urban life, and drives about 30 or 40 kilometres to work and back," said one man, who declined to give his name.
The innovative design of the Leaf's lithium batteries means that you can drive the car for longer.
But even a fully-charged Leaf has a more limited range than a car with a full fuel tank. So the fact that it recently was named European Car of the Year - the first completely electric vehicle to do so - raised some eyebrows.
António Pereira, editor of Portuguese car magazine AutoMotor, told Deutsche Welle he suspected the competition's jury may have been anxious not to miss a trick, having previously failed to garland the first version of the Toyota Prius, which later became a hit.
The Nissan Leaf is, he said, an interesting experiment, and Portugal a suitably small testing ground, but with some problems.
"Recharging stations are still few [in number] and mainly in the big cities," he said.
"And in Portugal we mainly live in apartments. So either you have a parking space in your building or you have to recharge at night in the public recharging station. That's complicated because there won't be one for each."
Portugal pushing for dynmaic energy flow in its 'smart grid'
Still, the spread of on-street charging points in Portugal is the reason the Leaf is getting its European launch in the country.
The government-led Mobi.E consortium is installing 1,300 chargers around the country, compatible with all makes of car. In addition, the state is offering a 5,000 euro ($6,500) subsidy for buyers of electric cars - bringing the Leaf's price down to 30,000 euro - and a road-tax exemption.
Portugal's ambitious declared long-term target of 750,000 electric vehicles on its roads also fits with plans to expand its renewable energy output, going some way to addressing sceptics' argument that electric cars' environmental impact depends on where their power comes from.
"We have defined as a target to be the first country to have a nationwide and comprehensive infrastructure for vehicles and to work to give the necessary framework and incentives so that we can massively introduce the electric vehicle," Luís Reis of Mobi.E explained at a trade fair earlier this year.
"This is important not only in terms of the sustainability of mobility but also in terms of the strategy that we have for energy."
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