Nissan LEAF Powers Christmas Lights as UK Plant Marks Production of 250,000 Electric Vehicles

20 December, 2022

Nissan Sunderland’s Christmas lights powered by one of their LEAF electric cars Picture: DAVID WOOD

Nissan LEAF Powers Christmas Lights as UK Plant Marks Production of 250,000 Electric Vehicles

LEAF number 250,000 rolls off the line at Nissan Sunderland Plant
Vehicle to X-MAS TREE lights up the plant’s Christmas display
Demonstrates potential of EVs for energy storage

Sunderland, UK – A Nissan LEAF is providing the sparkle for Nissan Sunderland Plant’s Christmas display to celebrate production of 250,000 of the pioneering electric vehicle in the UK.

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 V2X (or V2X-MAS TREE) technology.

Alan Johnson, Vice President Manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland Plant, 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 capability (sometimes called vehicle-to-building or vehicle-to-everything – V2X) 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.

The Nissan LEAF, built in Sunderland for more than a decade, was the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle. The Nissan Qashqai, the record-breaking original crossover, is now offered with Nissan’s unique e-POWER system, a first for the company in Europe, while its B-segment stablemate, the Nissan Juke, is now equipped with an advanced hybrid powertrain in Europe.

In 2021 Nissan’s Sunderland Plant was announced as the home of EV36ZERO, a £1bn flagship electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem bringing together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production.