The Leaf fended off competition from rival electric and hybrid manufacturers to win one of the most significant UK fleet awards.

The Fleet World Honours Car Awards are open to all manufacturers and the judging process combines the expert opinion of the Fleet World editorial team with the values provided by a number of leading leasing companies and fleet data providers.

The Leaf was judged upon a variety of criteria specific to fleet including cost of ownership and fit for purpose credentials with the 100 percent electric car ultimately judged to be the best environmentally focused car available for fleets to buy in the UK today.

This award comes following improvements made to the New Leaf, including extended range from 109 miles to 124 miles, a battery that is capable of recharging in about half the time of the first-generation Leaf and for the first time, buyers can lease batteries for the 100 percent electric car.

Fleet World editor, Steve Moody, said: “Nissan has been almost single-handedly driving the electric vehicle market forward in the past few years, with the Leaf spearheading this push by taking the vast majority of EV sales. With its recent enhancements, the Leaf is more viable than ever.”

Meanwhile, Hyundai received the Technology Award for the ix35 Fuel Cell, an award shared with the Renault Zoe.

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The car was handed over to the organization Tuesday May 14 at Cité Nissan in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The fully electric, zero-emission, five-passenger car will be used to ensure vulnerable families have food, hygiene products, shelter and assistance in restoring order to their lives after fires and major disasters in the Greater Montreal area.

“Sun Youth would like to extend its most heartfelt thanks to the Nissan Canada Foundation for its generous contribution over the years. They are truly dedicated to making a meaningful impact in our society, and is a relentless driver for positive and lasting change,” said Tommy Kulczyk, assistant to the executive director and director of Sun Youth’s Emergency Services. “This Nissan LEAF donation represents a great leap forward in Sun Youth’s effort to promote and encourage environmentally conscientious behaviour, sending a clear message to our community. We must not only include, protect, and nurture those who are vulnerable and marginalized, but also be considerate for that which we will always share, our environment.”

Sun Youth’s Disaster Assistance program has been on the scene of fires and major disasters in the Greater Montreal area since the 1970’s and with support from the Nissan Canada Foundation since 1996. Today’s donation has fortified one of the pillars of Sun Youth’s contribution to the Greater Montreal area and will help ensure this program can continue with the same capacity and reach.

This is the first time that the Nissan Canada Foundation has donated a Nissan LEAF to a charitable organization and is Sun Youth’s first electric car.

“In celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Nissan Canada Foundation and nearly twenty years supporting Sun Youth, we’re proud to make this contribution and to know that this Nissan LEAF will be used to help those in need,” said Christian Meunier, President, Nissan Canada Inc. “When disasters strike, organizations like Sun Youth provide the hope and comfort that can make all the difference in the world – we’re just happy to help them make a difference.”

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Ten local policing units (LPUs) will run three “diary car” Leafs each: the cars will be used to attend pre-arranged meetings with victims of crime and locals who have contacted the police force.

Diary cars average 40 to 45 miles per day making 124-mile range of the Leafs perfectly suited for WMP’s day-to-day needs.

After a successful trial by WMP Fleet Services last summer, the decision was made to order 30 Leafs and spread them evenly across each LPU.

Feedback so far has been very positive, with police drivers praising the LEAF for its arresting looks and zero emissions when in use.

Dedicated charging points installed at each LPU will be used to charge the Leafs, meaning officers won’t have trouble finding leads.

“We welcome the new Leafs, which fit in perfectly with the operational requirements of diary cars and will significantly cut our fuel costs while also reducing our carbon footprint,” said Bob Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for West Midlands Police.

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So far, only taxi drivers and government officials in Mexico City and in Aguascalientes are driving them.

Soon those in Mexico who want to drive a fully electric car will be able to buy the Nissan Leaf. The company said that is why it is working hard to get more electric vehicle charging infrastructure in place.

There now is a charging center in Aguascalientes that services the 50 Nissan Leaf taxis in the area. There are also two quick chargers, one in the heart of Mexico City and another in the city of Aguascalientes, both for public use.

Nissan officials said they hope to expand taxi programs, and public charging, like this to other cities and other countries in Latin America.

“Aguascalientes has been the benchmark on those (EV taxis), Mexico City as well. And there are a lot of other requests from other countries. Colombia has been pushing very hard requesting a lot of vehicles,” said Jorge Vallejo, Nissan Mexicana’s director of Government Affairs. “We are creating the first electric corridor in the entire Latin America region. It’s going to run from Mexico City up to Cuernavaca where we (Nissan) have another manufacturing facility.”

The Nissan Leaf will go on sale at dealerships in Mexico late this year.

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The pair is thus becoming the first 100 percent electric cars to join its staff company car program.

Looking for ways to reduce its vehicle fleet carbon footprint, Microsoft UK ran five weeks of competitive internal trials with other electric car manufacturers.

The trial involved inviting 500 Microsoft UK staff members ranging from engineers and senior directors to sample a variety of vehicles.

The software company said the Nissan Leaf made the final selection list after praise from Microsoft UK staff for its comfort, drivability and good level of standard equipment.

Microsoft UK has since installed two 32 amp quick chargers at its Reading HQ allowing staff who have opted for the Leaf to charge it on site.

First to take delivery of a Nissan Leaf is Alex Kureen, Microsoft UK’s partner/channel marketing manager.

Kureen will keep the vehicle for four years and cover approximately 7,000 miles per year as the LEAF becomes his environmentally friendly commuter vehicle.

“As you can imagine at a software company, when we announced the vehicle trial list we were overwhelmed with staff interest in an advanced piece of technology like the Nissan Leaf,” said Katie Colledge-Price, Microsoft UK’s car benefits manager. “During the trial the Leaf received consistently positive feedback for how enjoyable and calming it is to drive as well as being a comfortable family vehicle. We have installed charging points at our Reading HQ to encourage staff to consider electric vehicles to help reduce our carbon footprint so we’re now looking forward to welcoming more Leafs to Microsoft UK.”

In Europe, the Leaf is manufactured at Nissan’s Sunderland Plant, located in Sunderland, UK.

“Microsoft UK is at the cutting edge of hi-tech developments so to hear its praise for the LEAF and its technology is particularly pleasing,” said Barry Beeston, Nissan corporate sales director. “The Leaf represents an excellent solution to cutting any company’s carbon footprint as well as reducing running costs for the end user. After a positive trial process, we now look forward to providing more Leafs as staff at Microsoft UK see the benefits of 100 percent electric vehicles.”

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Nissan Sentra sales jumped 127.8 percent and was the strongest seller in Nissan’s line-up with 1,433 units sold.

Meanwhile, sales of the Nissan LEAF EV totaled 48 units, up 28.0 percent over last April.

Nissan also did well on the commercial side with the arrival of the NV200.

Nissan NV sales finished April at 141 units, the best month ever for the line-up as the NV200 compact commercial van begins to arrive in dealerships. 50 units of the NV200 were sold in its first month of availability.

“Nissan’s core volume models continue to perform well in a very competitive market and with the all-new Sentra and Pathfinder posting incredibly strong year-over-year sales increases, we expect this trend to continue,” said Christian Meunier, President of Nissan Canada Inc. “Our line-up continues to grow with the addition of the NV200 compact van leading to our best-ever commercial vehicle sales in Canada, and in a few months the all-new Versa Note arrives in showrooms.”

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Both companies said players are able to create EV-friendly cities by driving Nissan Leaf EV and installing up to five Nissan-branded charging stations throughout their cities free of charge.

With branded charging stations throughout the game, The Leaf is the only electric vehicle currently in the game.

As an incentive to develop charging infrastructure for EVs, buildings in a player’s city will experience a one-time wave of “happiness,” a key reward mechanism in the game. Once the charging stations are installed, Leaf vehicles will begin populating the city, and players will be able to see the “EV smiles” on their Sims’ faces as they drive around town — similar to what real-life Leaf drivers experience when they get behind the wheel.

Players can visit Nissan’s online calculator to see how Leaf “happiness” translates in real life savings through the Nissan website.

“Even virtual cities recognize that electric vehicles are the future of a sustainable mobile society, and Nissan is excited to start helping SimCity players make their cities more environmentally friendly by adding its zero-emission Nissan Leaf to the game,” said Jon Brancheau, vice president, Marketing, Nissan North America, Inc. “Nissan remains committed to finding innovative ways to promote the development of EV infrastructure and to bringing practical, affordable electric vehicles to markets throughout the United States.”

SimCity ia a computer game that has entertained more than 30 million fans since its debut in 1989.

It has sold more than 1.3 million copies since its return to PC this March, and Electronic Arts said the community will grow when the game debuts on Mac in June 2013.

Game’s creator said that in the new version of SimCity, everything is simulated intelligently, from all of the Sims in a city to every kilowatt of power pulsing through a region of cities. Delivering the most immersive and personal SimCity experience ever, players can create the cities of their imaginations.

http://youtu.be/ND1uXCl3H2E

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This pilot program, which puts six LEAF taxis into service beginning this spring, will help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets.

Both Nissan and the mayor took the opportunity of Earth Day to announce the program, April 22.

“As part of our commitment to zero emission vehicles for the mass-market, Nissan is looking for ways to broaden the use of electric cars, including commercial applications like taxis,” said Joe Castelli, vice president, Nissan Commercial Vehicles. “Following the selection of Nissan NV200 as New York City’s Taxi of Tomorrow, our relationship with the city provides us the ultimate proving ground to conduct this LEAF taxi pilot to help optimize the use of electric vehicle technology for future applications.”

Nissan and partners in New York City will also install, as part of the pilot program, several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during their shift.

With quick charging, the Nissan Leaf can be recharged to about 80 percent in under 30 minutes.

“Even though the Taxi of Tomorrow won’t be on the road for another six months, we’re already looking ahead to the taxi of the day after tomorrow,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Nissan’s proven track record with electric vehicles will put us ahead of the curve in helping us answer important questions about incorporating electric taxis into the fleet so that we can achieve the goal of a one-third electric taxi fleet by 2020.”

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No country has sold more Nissan Leaf per capita than Norway, with Nissan’s EV taking 1.7 percent of all vehicle sales in 2012, its first full year on sale in this Nordic country.

The country has embraced zero emission mobility like no other. The Nissan Leaf was Norway’s 13^th best selling new car with almost 2,298 examples registered in 2012.

More impressively yet, the Leaf is the second best selling car overall in Trondheim, Norway’s second largest city behind Oslo.

In total, more than 3,300 units have been sold in Norway since the battery-powered electric car went on sale in October 2011, and last year it was Nissan’s second most popular model in the country with sales just 599 units behind the Qashqai CUV.

Nissan said that part of the reason for its success is that Norway’s five million inhabitants are among the most environmentally aware in the world and all have access to power created from renewable energy – hydroelectric plants generate 99 percent the country’s electricity, more than in any other country in the world.

Incentives do help. Sales of the Nissan Leaf have also been boosted by the incentives open to buyers and drivers of electric vehicles in Norway. There’s no value added tax (VAT) on the car’s purchase price and no road tax to pay.

Toll roads, tunnels and ferries are mostly free to EV drivers while any driver commuting to work in an EV in Norway is allowed to use bus lanes; a typical rush hour drive might take as little as 20 minutes in a Nissan Leaf compared to over an hour in a conventionally powered car.

The EV driver also benefits from free parking while dedicated EV parking spaces usually include access to a charging post — and the electricity is free, of course.

Norway, in common with Nordic nations Sweden, Finland and Denmark, also has a growing network of Quick Chargers to allow EV drivers to tackle longer journeys.

Quick chargers, which allow a depleted battery to be recharged to 80 percent of its capacity in as little as 30 minutes, can be found in shopping malls and car parks.

A link has recently been established with McDonalds Restaurants, which will be installing Quick Chargers in its car parkings, allowing EV drivers to recharge their car’s batteries while they recharge their own, a blend of Fast Food and Fast Charging.

Currently Norway has around 3,500 publicly accessible AC normal chargers and 65 publicly accessible DC quick chargers, and by the end of 2013 there will be more than 200 DC quick chargers across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Norway has also seen some notable EV firsts, such as young mum Solveig Marie Ødegård who passed her driving test in 2012 behind the wheel of a driving school’s Nissan Leaf.

The real significance, however, is not simply that she passed her test in an EV, but that she has never driven a car powered by an internal combustion engine in her life.

Her first car? A new Nissan Leaf, of course.

Increasing EV sales mean there’s a growing band of enthusiastic owners keen to compare notes with likeminded people so Norway has an active EV organization with a lively discussion forum. Membership of the forum is included in the purchase price of every Nissan Leaf sold in the country.

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Canadian Nissan Leaf sales totaled 82 deliveries, up 310 percent and the nameplate’s best month since launch. This brings the year-to-date total to 156 units sold, up 129.4 percent over the same period last year.

The Leaf had sold 20 units in March last year and totaled 68 units by the end of March 2012.

Meanwhile, the all-new 2013 Sentra sedan recorded a year-over-year increase of 48.9 percent, for 1485 units sold. The small Rogue CUV is the most popular vehicle in the Nissan line-up in March with sales of 1,584 units.

Nissan’s Leaf also did well in the U.S. with 2,236 units sold, its best month since launching in December 2010.

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