Nissan takes a Leaf out of Christmas

Nissan Europe has taken a different approach to the festive season by creating Christmas cheer using a bright festive Leaf EV powered by its own regenerated energy.

The special one-off vehicle sees the Nissan Leaf transformed into a Nissan (Christmas) Tree. Decked out in a light display, the Nissan Tree showcases the way the electric car regenerates power when braking or decelerating.

Two driving functions provide energy regeneration in the Nissan Leaf. The Nissan Leaf e-Pedal allows the driver to start, accelerate, decelerate and stop using only the accelerator pedal. The e-Pedal also helps the car harvest energy via regenerative braking. This works by recycling the energy from the movement of the car during braking or deceleration, which then goes straight back to the batteries, where it is used to recharge the cells. Meanwhile, B mode is a driving function that regenerates energy under braking, with drivers using the traditional brake pedal as normal.

Fitted with thousands of LEDs, shimmery baubles and a reindeer, the car is brighter than Rudolph’s nose. The sparkling display reminds sustainably-minded drivers about the energy generation made possible through owning an electric vehicle.

The average Nissan Leaf driver regenerates 744kWh of clean energy if they drive 17,700km (11,000 miles) . This energy saving is equivalent to 20% of the overall domestic electricity consumption of an average household.

Nissan Leaf drivers would generate enough energy to power up**:

• 266 Christmas trees with 700 incandescent lights for a full hour of joy
• 297 ovens for one hour to cook your Christmas dinner
• 744 televisions for five hours to watch your favourite Christmas movies
• 10,783 houses with 1,000 LED lights for five hours

“Santa shouldn’t be the only one with a festive mode of transport. We wanted to make the Nissan Leaf more fun at this time of year whilst driving home a very important message,” says Nissan Europe head of electric vehicles Helen Perry.

“We hope this custom-made vehicle inspires people about the benefits of regenerative energy.”

The following sources have been used when calculating average energy usages:

• Oven – this is based on the fact that an average oven is 2500w
• Christmas tree lights –https://www.christmaslightsetc.com/pages/how-much-power.htm
• TV – https://www.firstchoicepower.com/the-light-lab/energy-education/how-much-electricity-does-my-tv-use/
• Exterior Christmas lights – https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/how-much-energy-christmas-lights-use/