Denmark is about to gain the largest fleet of electric cars available for lease in Europe, thanks to a deal between Nissan and Avis.

The rental company will purchase 401 Nissan e-NV200 electric vans, and 60 Nissan Leaf electric cars.

That will supplement an existing contingent of Leaf electric cars, and bring the total number of electric vehicles in the Avis Denmark fleet to 861.

DON'T MISS: Driving Nissan e-NV200 All-Electric Small Commercial Van (Jun 2014)

The Nissans will be used for Avis' leasing scheme, meaning they'll be used for longer-term rentals rather than just ferrying travelers to and from airports and such.

The inclusion of the e-NV200 in this order indicates Avis may be interested in attracting more businesses as customers.

The e-NV200 launched in Europe and Japan last year, with the same electric powertrain as the Leaf.

Nissan e-NV200 electric van prototype, Oppama, Japan, Oct 2012

It's an electric version of the NV200 van currently sold in the U.S., and deployed as New York City's "Taxi of Tomorrow."

Like the gasoline NV200, the e-NV200 is available in both passenger wagon and cargo van configurations. Both are included in the Avis order.

Nissan has discussed selling the e-NV200 in the U.S., but has not set a timetable.

ALSO READ: Electric Car Sales In Europe: Most Going To Rental Fleets? (Apr 2013)

Avis will have among the largest lease fleets of electric cars in the world, dwarfing most existing schemes for leasing or renting plug-in vehicles.

In the U.S., the Leaf is available to rent through Hertz and Enterprise, while the Tesla Model S is available as part of Hertz's high-end "Dream Cars" program.

There are also several carsharing services that use electric cars, including the Daimler-operated Car2Go, BMW-operated DriveNow, and the BlueIndy service in Indianapolis.

2015 Nissan Leaf

All represent a way to get more electric cars on the road and reduce carbon emissions, in the short term, at least.

Not every vehicle on the road is an individually-owned passenger car, after all.

CHECK OUT: Indianapolis Electric-Car Sharing: We Drive BlueIndy's BlueCar (May 2014)

While they don't represent the more permanent solution of increased electric-car purchases, rental vehicles still accumulate a lot of mileage each year.

That likely adds up to a significant amount of carbon emissions, which increased deployment of electric vehicles can eliminate.

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