Electrifying.com names Nissan as a green hero in its 2022 Awards

The honour recognises Nissan’s roadmap to carbon neutrality, its £1bn UK investment in sustainable EV production technologies, and the global success of its ground-breaking LEAF, the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle when it was launched in 2010.

A five-strong team of judges ranked Nissan as the best performing EV brand, noting its “long history of pioneering in the field of electric vehicles” and a “joined-up approach to manufacturing which showed real depth of thought into reducing impact on the environment”.

Examples of positive action included Nissan’s long-established solar and wind farms, recycling initiatives and the shorter supply chains created by local production. It was also noted that its recently announced EV36Zero plans are already becoming a reality, rather than existing only on paper. Work has already started on a second solar farm at the company’s Sunderland plant.

The 20MW solar farm would allow Nissan to use green energy to build one in every five cars in Sunderland, with 20% of the plant’s energy coming from the onsite solar and wind farm.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, SVP for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management at Nissan Europe, said: “We are delighted to receive this award for our pioneering work with electric vehicles since 2010, including the Nissan LEAF, which is proudly built by our manufacturing team here in the UK.

“As our recent EV36Zero announcements show, Nissan is investing £1bn into sustainable and future-proof manufacturing in Sunderland as part of a global plan to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations and the lifecycle of its products by 2050.

“We would like to thank the Electrifying.com team for this award and all the great work that they are doing to advance awareness and importance of sustainability in the automotive industry.”

The Electrifying.com awards committee consists of:

• Ginny Buckley, Founder and CEO of Electrifying.com
• Charlie Simpson, UK Future Mobility Lead, Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility, Ernst & Young
• Dr Andy Palmer, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Switch Mobility, Chairman Inobat
• Tom Barnard, Editor-in-chief, Electrifying.com
• Laura Leyland, Head of Department for Engineering at Birmingham City University

Judges assessed evidence provided by all manufacturers currently offering electric cars in the UK, and determined their success against a number of criteria. These included moves towards carbon-neutral manufacturing; efforts to reduce use of rare-earth metals; recyclability and use of recycled materials; auditing of supply chains; and work to improve vehicle logistics efficiency.

Ginny Buckley, Founder and CEO of Electrifying.com, said: “Nissan was a trailblazer with its electric cars and is now at the forefront of moving to sustainable production.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of their carbon footprint with Electrifying.com research showing that two out of three people are concerned about the environmental impact of how their car was made. Our Green Hero award will help car buyers looking for clarity in this area and shine a light on the great work Nissan is doing.”