Nissan officially produces half a million Leaf EVs

In celebration of World EV Day, Nissan has marked the production of the 500,000th Leaf, the world’s first mass-market 100 per cent electric car.

The milestone was achieved at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, almost a decade after the model first went on sale. The plant has built more than 175,000 Leaf cars since it began producing the model in 2013.

The Nissan Leaf has won accolades around the world including Car of the Year 2011 in Europe, World Car of the Year 2011, and Car of the Year Japan in 2011 and 2012.

The 500,000th Leaf found its happy owner, Maria Jansen, in Norway.

“My husband and I chose to buy a Nissan Leaf back in 2018, and we loved it,” Jansen said. “We’re very excited to become the proud owners of the 500,000th Nissan Leaf. This car really meets our needs with extended range and enhanced technologies.”

Nissan says the Leaf offers customers advanced technologies to enhance safety, comfort and control on the road. These include the award-winning ProPilot – a “hands-on, eyes-on” system that allows the car to stop, restart and stay centred in its lane – and e-Pedal technology for one-pedal driving.

According to the car maker, more than 14.8 billion clean-air kilometres have been driven since 2010 by Leaf owners around the world, helping to prevent more than 2.4 billion kilograms of CO2 emissions.