Is Nissan promoting LEAF + renewables enough?

leaf-windmillseditors-blog-entry3About a week ago, I wrote an entry (‘Yes, EVs can plug into renewables!’) in which I lauded smaller electric car makers like CODA Automotive and Tesla Motors for being way out in front of the larger automakers like Nissan and GM in advocating for the EV + renewable energy mix.

Tesla, which immediately greets visitors to its web site with a picture of a Roadster speeding by a wind turbine farm, is really playing up the EV + renewable energy mix.

Meanwhile, youā€™ve really got to dig to find any sort of direct connection to renewable energy made on Nissanā€™s LEAF web site.

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In fact, itā€™s difficult to find anything at all linking EVs directly to renewable energy on the LEAF site, although I did recently discover that one of the stops on the upcoming LEAF Drive Electric Tour, which will be offering prospective LEAF buyers the opportunity to test drive a LEAF before they plunk down thirty grand for it, will be at SolarWorld in Oregon.

Of course, just because Nissan doesnā€™t appear to be playing up EVs + renewable energy on its main LEAF web site, doesnā€™t mean it isnā€™t doing so elsewhere. Thereā€™s the new Nissan Polar Bear ad (officially, the adā€™s called ā€˜Innovation for the Planetā€™), which closes with the main character, a polar bear whoā€™s traveled south from melting ice in the Arctic, giving a LEAF owner a bear hug in his driveway.

The environmental message in this ad is done subtly ā€“ and renewable energy forms like solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, etc. arenā€™t shown.

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A SolarChargedDriving.Com reader just brought my attention to a YouTube video posted in late July 2010 that promotes the LEAF. This video ā€“ which provides a four-and-half-minute window in on the basic workings of the LEAF — does indeed directly link the LEAF to renewable energy, closing with a shot of a LEAF driving into a wind turbine farm, presumably in the UK (thatā€™s where parts of the ad appear to be shot). However, this video doesnā€™t seem to be an official Nissan produced ad. And, as far as I can tell, there is no link from the main Nissan LEAF web site to this video.

Still, itā€™s great to see a video actively and directly linking the LEAF to renewable energy, even if it hasnā€™t been officially produced by Nissan or its advertising agency. If this video is in fact an official Nissan ad, kudos to Nissan. If itā€™s not, letā€™s hope someone high up at Nissan sees it and starts thinking about ways to actively incorporate a similar strategy into the official LEAF marketing approach.

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