Purchasing Nissan’s Leaf pure-electric vehicle is a four-part process and the carmaker wants to make sure that potential customers how to go about it by announcing an outline. Delivery is set to start in December in some markets.

Registration can be made online. Customers can then reserve a Leaf starting in April and order one in August. Nissan has yet to reveal which markets will be the first recipients of the vehicle. Interestingly, the process coincides with the end of a 24-city U.S. and Canada Leaf marketing tour in New York.

Nissan said that so far, 50,000 people have registered online. Pricing for the Leaf will be announced in April; this will also be the time that it will open reservations accompanied by a refundable $100 deposit.

And in August, consumers can inform Nissan about plans to either lease or purchase a Leaf. Nissan sells the Leaf and home charging stations as well. Production of the Leaf and its battery pack will begin by 2012 at the Smyrna, Tenn. plant.

The plant’s conversion and construction of a batter plant will begin in May for the plant after Nissan closed on a $1.4 billion loan with the U.S. Department of Energy. Hertz Corp. has stated that it plans to rent the Nissan Leaf in selected markets in the US and Europe starting in early 2011.