At the 2011 Car Conference, which was held at the Johannesburg International Motor Show, a big topic was sustainability and the effect that cars are having on global warming. Many countries, including South Africa, have already introduced a CO2 tax to act as a penalty for vehicles that exceed a certain CO2 emissions rating. Along these lines many vehicles manufacturers are looking to create vehicles which can ultimately reduce CO2 emissions and their dependency on fossil fuels and the Nissan LEAF does just that.

Green motoring for the Nissan LEAF

To this end Nissan are looking to introduce the LEAF into South Africa. The Nissan LEAF is a 100% electric vehicle, which does pose questions as to the charging infrastructure that is available in our country and to combat this, Nissan are looking into partnerships with electric mobility operators.

Nissan are looking to put 1.5 million electric vehicles onto roads throughout the world by the end of 2016 and are looking for electric vehicles to make up 10% of total new vehicles sold by 2020. Nissan are targeting drivers who make regular, short-distance, trips in urban areas and note that a large portion of new vehicles sold are used for exactly that purpose. Electric vehicles are generally able to drive around 160km on a single charge, which makes them ideal for daily short trips.

While there is no set date for the Nissan LEAF arriving in South Africa, Nissan do believe that along with South Africa hosting the Climate Change Conference in Durban this November, we are ready to embrace the LEAF in Africa.