Heathrow has taken the Nissan Leaf under its wing
Published Date: 19th Jun 2017
Britain’s and London’s largest and busiest airport Heathrow, has decided to go all electric by making the Nissan Leaf the first of its plans to inspire electric car usage across the huge site.
The first order of 17 all electric Leafs to the operating fleet, will see 12 being used airside for staff duties including baggage and security, the remaining five will be used as pool cars for travel around the vast operation.
This recent move falls in line with a commitment made by the company to improve local air quality by making any car or small van electric or hybrid by 2020 and reduce emissions produced by the airfield.
Heathrow Nissan Leaf Fleet
They also hope that the move will inspire other third party operations in and around the airport to follow suit with thousands of vehicles operating around the site, a great deal of the emissions could be cut by switching to hybrid and all electric.
Around 8,000 vehicles are licensed to operate airside at Heathrow and the major airport is setting achievable targets and hopes to lead by example in the mission to drive down the carbon footprint at the whole site.
Peter Leeming, Head of Operational Strategy at Heathrow, said: “Through Heathrow 2.0, our plan for sustainable growth, we are aiming to establish Heathrow as a world-leading airport in reducing emissions from all sources of activity.
“A key part of this is by targeting the conversion of 100% of Heathrow’s cars and small vans to electric or plug-in hybrid by 2020, with ultra-low emission standards for all airside vehicles to follow by 2025.
“We trialled the Nissan Leaf and found it was the perfect fit for many of our teams and the types of journeys they make. The trial went seamlessly, and within months we placed our order and put the LEAF into full time service.”
Nissan first launched the Leaf in 2010, onwards to 2017 and it’s now the world’s best selling EV with more than 260,000 units on the road. Recent upgrades and the advances in battery technology now means the latest generation Leaf can do up to 26% more miles, bringing the maximum range up to 155 miles from a single charge of the 30kWh power unit.
A Nissan spokesperson said “We are delighted to be supporting Heathrow Airport as it takes such a positive step towards changing the culture of vehicle usage onsite and improving its sustainability.
“I’m sure this initiative will inspire other businesses to follow Heathrow’s lead by using Nissan’s electric vehicles to both reduce their emissions and cut their running costs.”