√Nissan Leaf electric car lights up UK factory’s Christmas tree

More than 250,000 Nissan Leaf electric cars have been built in the UK. Now the factory is celebrating by powering its Christmas lights with the battery-powered hatchback.

Nissan is celebrating the 250,000th Leaf rolling off its UK production line by using the electric car’s batteries to light up a Christmas tree outside the factory where it was built.

Since 2012, Nissan’s Sunderland factory has produced the Leaf electric car for buyers in the UK and Ireland, as well as certain international markets – including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

With production passing a quarter-of-a-million examples, Nissan UK has demonstrated the Leaf’s vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology by providing power to the lights on a 10-metre tall Christmas tree.

Also known as vehicle-to-home (V2H), V2G allows an electric car’s battery to power an entire house or return its power to the grid.

MORE: New tech enables electric cars to power homes in Australia

It’s worth noting the Nissan Leaf does not support a vehicle-to-load (V2L) system, which can let owners plug domestic appliances into the battery with a simple adaptor.

Instead, the Nissan Leaf pictured is supplying energy to a much larger power adaptor, which is connected to the tree’s lights through a three-phase plug.

The Nissan Leaf is not the only electric car on sale in Australia with V2G and V2H technology – Mitsubishi’s Eclipse Cross and Outlander plug-in hybrids are also capable of powering homes or returning their battery energy to the grid.

Electric cars equipped with V2L include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Niro EV, Genesis GV60, Electrified GV70 and Electrified G80, MG ZS EV, and BYD Atto 3.

The updated Nissan Leaf arrived in Australian showrooms in August 2022, priced from $50,990 plus on-road costs for the entry-level 40kWh model, while the 62kWh e+ variant starts at $61,490 plus on-road costs.

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