Gas 2.0's take on why we won't get gouged:
http://gas2.org/2010/05/26/nissan-leaf- ... heres-why/
"..........................According to Perry, there are major differences between a LEAF sale and a conventional car sale that should put to rest the question of price gouging. “The difference in the distribution process is, it’s not an allocation to the dealer, it’s a customer order, so [the customers] have the control,” said Perry on the sidelines of the groundbreaking event. As he explains it, if you go to any particular dealer and say ‘I have an order, would you like to deliver my lease? (me: I'm sure this is supposed to say Leaf)’ and they come back with a price $5,000 higher than list, you can simply take your order and go to another dealer. In this system, the people with multiple Nissan dealerships in their area will be at an advantage, but even the folks with only 2 or 3 within 60 miles will have excellent bargaining power.
This system is exactly what I had suspected and mused about in some comments sections on older posts. It’s an elegant way to solve the problem from the manufacturer end. There will still likely be dealers that try and price gouge, but all you’ve got to do as a customer is simply walk away from that dealer and take your order elsewhere. Plus, there’s always the onus of bad press to discourage dealers in the first place."