Nissan Sunderland has produced its 250 000th Leaf, which has been in production in the British plant since the first generation in 2011. To celebrate, the Leaf is used to power the plant’s Christmas display using ‘Vehicle-to-X-Mas Tree’ (V2X) technology.

The Nissan Leaf has been in production for over a decade. Still, it’s the second generation from 2018 that’s become more popular thanks to its more useful driving range and the market gaining more interest in electric vehicles.

Adding the 250 000 Leafs built in Sunderland to the production numbers in Japan and the US, nearly 600 000 models have been produced worldwide.

Bidirectional charging allows for Christmas lights

The Christmas display also shows off one of the Leaf’s unique features: its bidirectional charging capability thanks to its CHAdeMO charging port, which allows the Leaf to be used as a home battery backup, as a vehicle-to-grid solution (V2G) or, in this case, a Vehicle-to-X-Mas-Tree power source.

However, the Nissan Leaf, which only just received a midlife cycle facelift, will be replaced by a crossover EV in the middle of this decade. This is because Nissan no longer wants to build conventional models like sedans or hatchbacks.

The Leaf replacement will be based on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-EV platform, which is also used for the Nissan Ariya and Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric.