Nissan finds a fun way to celebrate the Leaf's 250,000 units

Mónica Redondo @MonicaRedondoD 21 December 2022 2 min.

The Nissan Leaf lights up a Christmas tree almost ten metres tall thanks to V2X technology.

With vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, electric vehicles can be more useful than conventional cars. We have already seen an Rivian R1T used to perform surgery during a power outage and an F-150 Lightning during a Texas cold snap. Now, Nissan is using electric vehicles for a more festive purpose, powering the lights of a Christmas tree.

To celebrate the Nissan Leaf 2023 250,000th unit rolling off the assembly line at the Sunderland plant, the carmaker installed a light display outside its factory in the UK. The almost 10-metre Christmas tree and the illuminated reindeer run on the Leaf’s V2X (or V2X-MAS Tree) function.

“Surpassing the quarter of a million mark for the Nissan Leaf is a tremendous milestone, and it demonstrates the EV manufacturing experience we have built up at our plant over the last decade,” said Alan Johnson, vice president of manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland plant. “This year we have fully electrified the plant’s line-up with the new Qashqai and Juke versions, so lighting up the Christmas tree with our original electric car is a spectacular and fitting way to end 2022.”

This is how the Nissan Leaf brings Christmas to life

The 250,000 figure doesn’t even count Leaf production at Nissan’s Smyrna plant in Tennessee, which has built around 180,000 cars to date.

The Leaf was one of the first mainstream electric vehicles to offer Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology, which allowed it to store energy that could then be fed back into the grid. With sceptics still warning that the power grid cannot handle an influx of new EVs, V2G technology could help ensure there is enough energy for everyone during periods of high demand. While Nissan has already demonstrated that this technology is viable, other carmakers such as Toyota are carrying out further research to see how it can be used in the future.

For now, Leaf owners can save a little on their electricity bill by using their car to power their Christmas decorations.