Nissan has delivered its first electric car Leaf models at Glyn Hopkin Nissan in Waltham Abbey. Nissan Zero Emission

Radio DJ Mark Goodier and electronics engineer Richard Todd were the first customers to take delivery of the new Leaf.

Silicon chip designer Todd from St Albans, Hertfordshire was the first customer in the UK to place his order for a Nissan Leaf when the order books opened last September.

Today, he and his wife Jane took delivery of a black Leaf with the optional solar panel. Prior to picking up his Leaf, Todd did his 33 mile commute in a Toyota Prius.

Paul Willcox, managing director at Nissan Motor GB, was on hand to witness the handover of the first Nissan Leafs in the UK.

He said: “We first unveiled the car in August 2009 and we’ve been building up to this moment for over 18 months.

“Today’s deliveries mark the start of the introduction of the Nissan Leaf to customers across the country as our network of 26 EV dealers will be delivering Leafs to customers later this week.”

The Nissan LEAF is currently built in Japan, but will be manufactured at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland from 2013.

A charging network is currently under development in the UK and Nissan’s network of EV dealers - currently 26 sites across the country - will be equipped with a quick charger, which will charge the battery from zero up to 80% capacity in under 30 minutes.

Across the UK there are programmes under way to install around 9,000 charge points by 2013. British Gas was recently announced as the preferred supplier of domestic charging points for the Nissan Leaf.