First Street-Legal All-Electric Limousine Goes on the Auction Block
Some months ago, we blogged about the first street-legal all-electric limousine, a Nissan Leaf limo made for a hotel in Nashville. That custom limousine must not have delivered the expected boost in reservations, as it is now listed on eBay with a starting bid of $50,000 and a Buy It Now price of $57,000. The Nashville Embassy Suites Hotel owns the limo, which seats eight people and was built by custom luxury vehicle manufacturer Imperial Coach Builders, based in Springfield, Missouri.
According to the builder, they intentionally kept most of the Leaf’s features as intact as possible while extending the subcompact by around eight feet and adding around 400 pounds to its weight. They shifted the limo’s battery pack to the rear for better balance, stability and performance and added customary limousine amenities such as these:
- High-end audio system
- Flat-screen TVs
- Wet bar
- Plush seating
- Mood lighting
- Other luxury amenities
Regular readers of this blog know that we often write about all things weird and wonderful in the automotive world, and the first all-electric limo was no exception. While we do offer San Francisco hybrid rentals in our fleet of vehicles, we prefer to keep our Prius and Camry hybrids separate from our Bay Area limousine rentals. Each fills a very important niche for our clients, and, while an all-electric limo certainly piques our curiosity, we won’t be placing a bid on this limo any time soon. We suspect that Embassy Suites commissioned this custom limo to generate interest and perhaps enhance the hotel’s credibility with environmentally conscious guests. We also suspect that guests’ reactions to the limo were lukewarm, which lead to it being auctioned to the highest bidder.
Electric vehicles are a very responsible and practical way to run errands and provide everyday transportation to work and other destinations, but our guests do not rent our limousines, party buses and other luxury vehicles for daily transportation. They rent them for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, concerts, sporting events and many other special events that transcend the everyday. It is our job to ensure that their experience enhances their special event and makes it more comfortable, luxurious and most important, fun! If you are looking for the Bay Area limousine service that has the best selection of luxury limousines in the San Francisco area, you have come to the right place! Browse the pages of our site to check out images of the many options in our fleet, and, for more information and to place your reservation, just give us a call at NLS Limo at 800-339-8936.