Al Castignetti, the division VP of Nissan, recently stated at the groundbreaking event in Tennessee that more than 50% of the 130,000 Nissan Leaf pre-orders came from people who currently own a Toyota Prius.

Castignetti went on to say that, “. It tells us that there is a segment of eco-friendly consumers who are interested in going to the next level. They own a hybrid vehicle. But if the next step is available, they want to take it.”

Castignetti described the enthusiasm that Nissan dealerships have been expressing about the Leaf and explained that in order for a Nissan dealership be allowed to sell the Leaf they must install a minimum of two electric car charging stations. All larger Nissan dealerships will be required to install four charging stations with one that is reserved for Nissan Leaf owners.

According to Business Week magazine, Renault-Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn said that his company has 56,000 orders for the Leaf in the United States. The car will be available late this year, and Ghosn said that real mass production will start in 2012, when the alliance plans to have capacity to 500,000 electronic vehicles in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Nissan announced that over 50,000 people had signed up to be on the reservation list and that pre-orders would not start until April. That list allows people to move to the head of the line when it comes time to order the Leaf, but it’s not an official intent form.