n a first for the UEFA Champions League, Nissan, the official global automotive sponsor of Europe’s most prestigious club football competition, is bringing all-electric vehicles to the official UEFA vehicle fleet. The fleet is transporting delegates, partners and officials around Monaco as part of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which is being held today at the Grimaldi Forum.
Nissan have supplied the pioneering all-electric Nissan LEAF hatchback and newly launched e-NV200 light commercial van as part of the official UEFA shuttle service fleet in Monaco, alongside the Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail crossovers and the high-performance Nissan GT-R.
This represents the first time electric vehicles have been used as part of the UEFA official shuttle service, making for a seamless fit with Monaco’s progressive outlook on sustainable mobility. Monaco has one the most comprehensive electric vehicle infrastructures in the world, with more EV charging points per square-metre, than any other country or principality on the planet.
As the annual host of EVER, the Ecological Vehicle and Renewable Energies conference, Monaco has been at the forefront of promoting electric vehicle use and has 287 charging points at 24 locations around the principality, on average one for approximately every 400 metres. This includes two quick chargers, located next to the Grimaldi Forum where the draw is taking place, making it the ideal location to incorporate electric vehicles into a high-use shuttle service. Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Director of Electric Vehicles – Nissan Europe, said:
“Nissan considers zero-emission vehicles to be the ultimate solution for realising sustainable mobility in the future and is strongly committed to EV technologies. As the global leader in EV technologies, Nissan is delighted to work with UEFA to provide a zero-emission solution to the shuttle service and will continue to explore opportunities with the organisation to further enhance EV use across all UEFA Champions League activity.”
Last year, the LEAF saw record sales, with 25 percent more sales than the next best-selling EV model. With 130,000 LEAFs on the road globally and 26,000 in Europe, it remains the market leader in multiple European countries including Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Source; Nissan
