When Nissan needed someone special to drive the Nissan LEAF for its billionth kilometre worldwide, they knew just where to come… Step forward A19 Insurance company director Kevin Slowther! Kevin was invited along to the Nissan Motor Manufacturing plant in Sunderland to drive the final kilometre.
Thanks to the innovative CarWings telemetry used in the LEAF, Nissan has been able to keep an accurate log of the total distance covered by every LEAF registered with CarWings since the car’s launch. Nissan has been recording the kilometres on an online counter and actively involving owners in the count with a series of celebratory videos. This incredible achievement comes almost four years since the LEAF was launched in 2010 as one of the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicles. It is now the best-selling electric vehicle in history. Over 147,000 LEAF vehicles have been sold globally to date, 31,000 of which have been sold in Europe.
A19 Insurance director Kevin Slowther, with wife Joanne and daughter Hollie
It was a great honour for A19 Insurance, and especially Kevin Slowther, to be involved in this milestone. Kevin was an early adopter of electric vehicles, and is currently onto his third Nissan LEAF. The company now run two electric vehicles, branded with logos (see here). Also, the Nissan Motor Manufacturing plant is situated just a couple of miles away from the A19 Insurance office.
Paul Willcox, Chairman for Nissan in Europe, said: “Our aim was to see Nissan LEAF owners registered with our innovative CarWings system amass one billion kilometres by January 2015, and we are absolutely delighted to announce that we have achieved this landmark milestone earlier than anticipated. We would like to thank every single Nissan LEAF owner for helping us in reaching this world-first.
“The Nissan LEAF was the first mass-market family electric vehicle ever built and the owner satisfaction scores are the best in the Nissan range. This huge distance landmark shows that many of our customers are rapidly clocking up kilometres as they enjoy the benefits of quiet, emission free driving.”