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The rise of the 'normal' electric car continues.

Sian and Blake from We Are Futureproof went to witness the UK launch of the Nissan LEAF EV on Friday.

A shiny new right-hand-drive, 5-door, family-size, all-electric LEAF will be touring the country with it's 'Innovation Station' exhibition for the next three years, so that car buyers who are not familiar with the capabilities of the new generation of EVs can find out more. The high-tech free exhibition has a range of games and exhibits designed to be fun as well as instructive.

Currently in residence at the O2, the space has driving games galore and activities where you can do things like design your own car and test your ability to guess your driving range for a given level of battery charge. We can testify that it was all very posh, and worth a visit even without luminous drinks on offer!

Blake is one of Lance Armstrong's biggest fans, so will be pleased to hear that the LEAF also has the cycling champ's backing. Armstrong has bought one for himself already and is pretty excited about it. He says:

"Anytime you talk about technology - if it's a computer, or if it's a phone, or if it's a bicycle - you always talk about 'next level'. Next level is the stuff that just blows you away. The LEAF was just really, in my opinion, what I would call next level."

At the O2, Blake and I dodged the robots and canapes and cornered the marketing director for Nissan in the UK for a grilling. If you want to find out how he sees the electric vehicle market developing, and what he thinks of the LEAF's acceleration, listen to our latest podcast for the full interview - coming soon.

3 great things about the Nissan LEAF

• It's a proper family car. With 5 seats, a big boot, and a top speed of 90mph, it's cheap to run (2.5p per mile) and no tax or congestion charge.

• Reduced 'range anxiety'. At around 100 miles on a full charge, and fast-charging from dedicated stations to 80% capacity in just 30 minutes. As a purpose-built electric vehicle, it's also been packed with tons of communications whizziness, so it can send your smartphone precise details of when it will next need a charge - and where to find a charging point long before you run out of juice.

• It's good for UK jobs. The batteries will come from Nissan's new Sunderland plant, which will also provide parts for Nissan's European fleet of EVs.

And 2 not so great things

• You can't drive it for another 6 months. They can be reserved right now, but you can't actually take delivery in the UK until March 2011. It seems the reason for the delay is largely down to the slow pace of charging infrastructure development in the UK, so at least part of the blame lies with the government for other countries getting themselves ready first.

• It's quite expensive. Even after the £5k government subsidy, a new LEAF will set you back nearly £24,000. While you get cheaper running costs and it's a lot less than the £38k you need to buy the Mitsubishi iMiev that Sian tested at the What Green Car awards, it's still a hefty premium over a petrol equivalent, and a barrier to really mainstream sales figures.