Nissan's electric vehicle director has told the Sunday Sun how the car giant has enjoyed a record breaking number of sales of their Leaf electric car Sales of a flagship electric car made on Tyneside have turned a corner, putting Sunderland workers at the forefront of a vehicle revolution. The boss behind the Nissan LEAF car has admitted that they got off to a slow start with the car's European sales as there weren't enough places to plug them in to charge.