Nissan opens electric café in Paris to commemorate 3 billion EV kilometres

Nissan Motor Company announced that Leaf owners worldwide have achieved a staggering milestone, having collectively driven 3 billion kilometers.

The automaker celebrated the announcement by launching new digital platform ‘Electrify The World’ and opening a pay with energy pop-up café in Paris.

The pay with energy café was open to the general public in Paris for a limited time only. The Nissan Electric Café offers customers the opportunity to use cutting-edge technology to produce their own energy. They can then use this energy as a currency to pay for goods and services, allowing them to experience the electric lifestyle for themselves.

The pop-up features a range of new technologies that embody Nissan Intelligent Mobility, including an xStorage Home unit developed by global power management company, Eaton, in partnership with Nissan. Powered by second-life Nissan EV batteries or new EV batteries, xStorage Home is an energy storage system designed to give consumers greater control over how and when they use energy in their own homes enabling them to avoid expensive tariff periods. The system now comes in six different configurations giving consumers greater choice to meet their energy needs. Consumers in the UK, Germany, Norway and also now in France can pre-order xStorage Home.

“When we introduced the world's first mass-market electric vehicle, the Nissan LEAF, it triggered a new wave of interest in zero emission technology and was the first step on our path to achieving Intelligent Mobility,” said Gareth Dunsmore, director of Electric Vehicles, Nissan Europe.

“Since then, our electric vehicles have grown in popularity, and today our LEAF customers have reached a landmark moment having collectively driven over three billion kilometers, saving almost 500 million kilograms of CO2 emissions. But electric vehicles are just one element of Nissan's vision. Our pay with energy café is the perfect way of showcasing how we can potentially revolutionize the way in which we generate and utilize energy. We want to allow people to experience for themselves how new technologies such as xStorage Home can benefit their lives today, as well as help improve the lives of future generations,” added Dunsmore.

Nissan has partnered with a number of technology and energy companies to create the pop-up. Visitors can walk along a corridor of Pavegen electro-magnetic induction tiles to generate power and can try out the Pavegen photo-pod, where customers are challenged to jump on the tiles to produce enough energy to take a photograph. The café also features WeWatt's innovative bar seating system, which encourages people to cycle while sitting down until they generate a target wattage and are rewarded with a beverage of their choice.

The opening of the Nissan Electric Café launches Electrify The World, a new digital community platform. Through the brand's network of social media sites and websites, Nissan will be using its expertise from almost a decade in electric vehicles to inspire new conversations about sustainability and cleaner living. The platform also gives users a forum to engage in discussion, interact with the brand and offer opinions.

Nissan introduced the world's first mass-market electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in 2010. Today, there are more than 275,000 Nissan EVs on the road globally with 76,000 of these vehicles in Europe.