Sadly, talk surrounding electric vehicles tends to be vague and full of qualifiers -- small surprise when you consider it's still an emerging technology with an as-yet undefined, unquantifiable customer base. So it's refreshing to see that Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has done some number-crunching in terms of cold, hard sales, rather than a vehicle's impact on, say, brand perception or technology leadership.

High-volume sales are the key to reducing cost for any product; EVs are no exception. Right now, the Nissan Leaf EV sells for $32,780 -- quite a high sticker, considering the Leaf is the size of the Versa subcompact, which starts at less than 10 grand and tops out at less than $17,000. But of course, research and development -- not to mention lithium-ion batteries -- are expensive, and manufacturers look to high initial prices for early adopters as well as to government subsidies -- in this case a federal payback of $7,500, which knocks the Leaf's price down to a more manageable $25,280 -- to move cars while staying profitable. By Ghosn's numbers, he could sell the full electric at the lower price figuring annual sales of -- wait for it -- 1 million Leafs.

Well, Nissan, at least you've figured out the hurdle you're trying to clear. Of course, given that only 20,000 Leafs are heading to U.S. dealerships next year, with a maximum global output of 200,000 envisioned for 2012, that's a pretty far way to jump. Don't go forgetting to encourage consumers to cash those government checks just yet.