To celebrate the production of 250,000 of the pioneering electric vehicle (EV) in the UK, a Nissan LEAF is providing the sparkle for Nissan Sunderland Plant’s Christmas display.
Demonstrating the ability of the LEAF to act as a mobile power plant, the lights on the 32-foot Christmas tree and its shimmering reindeer are being powered by the vehicle’s battery, using vehicle-to-Xmas-tree (V2X) technology.
Alan Johnson, Nissan Sunderland Plant vice president of manufacturing, said: “Passing a quarter of a million Nissan LEAF is a tremendous milestone and demonstrates the electric vehicle manufacturing expertise we have built up at our plant over the past decade.
“This year we have completely electrified the plant’s line-up with the new versions of Qashqai and Juke launched, so lighting up the Christmas tree with our original EV is a spectacular and appropriate way to end 2022.”
The Nissan LEAF’s vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability puts energy management back in the hands of the owner by turning their vehicle into a mobile energy hub. Drivers can store electricity in their vehicle’s battery and feed it to the grid, their building, or their Christmas tree, when needed.
The technology allows electric vehicles to be fully integrated into the electricity grid and help improve grid capability to handle renewable power as well as managing energy more efficiently.
Back in 2020, Nissan used this technology to help in disaster zones in Japan through its Blue Switch Project, showing the power of electric cars beyond zero emissions driving.
The Nissan LEAF, built in Sunderland for more than a decade, was the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle. In 2021 Nissan’s Sunderland Plant was announced as the home of EV36ZERO, a £1 billion flagship electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem bringing together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production.
Earlier this year, Nissan announced it had started European production of its all-new fully-electric Townstar EV light commercial vehicle (LCV). This new electric vehicle follows on from the success of the e-NV200 and builds on the company’s quest to electrify latest-mile deliveries.
