Nissan expands free charging for Leaf electric cars

Car buyers can't resist free gas offers.

So Nissan is giving the idea a twist when it comes to its Leaf electric car: Free public charging.

Nissan is expanding its free charging offer to Boston, good for two years at chargers that can bring a battery to an 80% level of charge in about 30 minutes.

The program is called "No Charge to Charge," and Boston is only the latest city to get it. It has already come to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Fresno, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Denver, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C. Next, it's going to hit 17 more cities.

"Nissan Leaf is an attractive option for Boston car buyers because it is fun to drive and offers significantly lower operating costs when compared to a gas-powered car," said Andrew Speaker, director of electric-vehicle sales & marketing for Nissan, in a statement.

The program also works on Leafs built since 2013. Even through Tesla and its free Supercharger network get the headlines, Nissan touts the Leaf as the world's best-selling electric car with about 180,000 sold around the world.