Nissan launches LEAF app for Android and Blackberry smartphones

Nissan has launched the LEAF app for the Android and Blackberry platforms, giving smartphones users the ability to check various statistics of their all-electric Nissan LEAF at any time. The app will allow users to begin charging their LEAF, check the charging status, see the estimated driving range, and even turn the HVAC controls on ahead of time to make the interior temperature more comfortable.

Nissan launched a LEAF app for the iPhone nearly a year ago, in December 2010, when the vehicle first went on sale. But the release of Android and Blackberry apps gives the LEAF a slight advantage over its main competitor, the Chevrolet Volt, which has the OnStar app with virtually all the same features... but only on the iPhone.

Nissan North America director of Vehicle Connection Services Trisha Jung said "By providing accessibility and functionality to the Nissan LEAF through all major smartphone platforms, we are truly delivering 'Innovation for All.'" All Nissan LEAF apps on all platforms are free to Nissan LEAF owners, enthusiasts, and subscribers to a service Nissan provides in Japan called CARWINGS that connects navigation systems to mobile phones to update drivers with real-time traffic information and alternate routes to avoid congestion.

Though both the Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt have had a rough July in terms of sales figures, the LEAF continues to outsell the Volt by a wide margin. Though the LEAF is a 100% electric vehicle which will be dead on the side of the road once it runs out of juice, the plug-in hybrid Volt with its range-extending gasoline on-board generator is considerably more expensive. Thus, the LEAF outsold the Volt nearly 9 to 1 last month.