Ghosn says the world will want 500,000 Renault-Nissan electric cars a year by 2020

The way Carlos Ghosn repeatedly touts the benefits of electric vehicles, you’d think he knows something the rest of the industry doesn’t. For now, it appears he’s right, since sales of the Nissan Leaf continue to be constrained by supply and not demand. What makes the Renault-Nissan CEO endlessly interesting is that he doesn’t back off of his stance no matter what’s happening in the world. The best response to the earthquake in Japan? EVs. A competitive automotive industry? EVs. Giving the customers what they want? You get the picture.

Speaking with Automotive News recently, Ghosn made it clear that his. Some interesting tidbits include that Ghosn doesn’t expect U.S. production of the Leaf (in Smyrna, TN) will lower the price at all, it’ll just help Nissan move toward what it wants, “which is a sustainable model without support from the government.” He sees global demand for his companies’ EVs to reach 500,000 a year globally by 2020. As he pushes forwards to that goal, he’s also looking as hybrids (like the Altima hybrid) in the near term, saying Nissan will have “very significant” gas-electric market share by 2015, but one that “could be smaller than electric [market share].”