√Rest in peace: Nissan Leaf electric car converted to hearse

Make your last-ever journey in complete silence, with this Nissan Leaf hearse.

If you’d prefer to complete your final journey with no carbon footprint, then an English car-body customiser has just the answer.

The Nissan Leaf ‘Athena’ Hearse takes a current, second-generation Leaf electric car, extends the wheelbase and adds an aerodynamically heightened rear compartment for the, ah, passenger.

The Nissan Leaf hearse. pic.twitter.com/WDyntFT8b8
— Jon Coupland (@joncoupland) August 25, 2022

According to the hearse’s builder, Wilcox Limousines in the UK, the conversion adds just three per cent to the weight of the car (1594kg standard, 1642kg approx. converted) due to the use of lightweight materials.

Given it has V2L (Vehicle to Load) capability – allowing the car to power external electrical devices using its battery – the Leaf would also come in handy to power a funeral service held out in the open.

On its website, Wilcox notes the increase in running costs of traditional petrol vehicles, due to rising fuel prices and taxes in the UK. For operators looking to reduce overheads, the company offers a hybrid Mercedes-Benz E-Class conversion as well as the fully-electric Leaf.

In London, electric vehicles are exempt from the city’s £15 congestion charge fee.

The Athena is not the only Nissan Leaf on the funeral circuit either.

Another builder, Brahms, has created a unique single-sided hearse based on a first-generation Leaf.

Here, the body profile has been kept ‘factory’ with the driver and rear-right doors left as intended, but the entire passenger side of the vehicle has been modified with a single glass panel.

I saw this variant of the Nissan Lead hearse at a car show in Churchill, Cotswolds, in 2018.

I was talking to the owner and he said it’s for people who want an environmentally friendly funeral. Hence the coffin is made of cane, not wood. pic.twitter.com/kIApcigAp0
— Chris Mountford (@ChrisFM52E) August 25, 2022

The two-seat layout offers room for the ‘passenger’ on the left of the car, with access to load and unload through the boot.

Brahms also offers an extended-wheelbase Tesla Model S hearse (one of a few conversions known to be in production), just in case you want to want to remain smug right to the very end.

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