Nissan is marking a major milestone in its electric vehicle story, revealing that UK owners of its electric cars and vans have collectively driven more than three billion miles since the original Leaf went on sale in 2011.
Using DVLA mileage data for every electric Nissan registered in the UK, the manufacturer calculated the exact figure at 3,027,603,142 miles — enough to travel to the Moon and back more than 6,000 times, or drive between its Sunderland factory and Tokyo over 340,000 times. Nissan says the milestone reflects 15 years of continuous EV sales in the UK, a run it says is unmatched by any other manufacturer.
It’s not just a nice round number either. Nissan estimates that if those three billion miles had instead been driven in comparably sized petrol cars, tailpipe emissions would have totalled around 585,000 tonnes of CO2. That’s a striking illustration of the cumulative environmental impact of a model range that’s now been on UK roads across three generations of the Leaf, plus the e-NV200, Ariya, Townstar, Interstar and the newly launched Micra EV.
James Taylor, managing director of Nissan Motor GB, said the milestone underscored the company’s role as an early pioneer in electric vehicles, crediting the original Leaf with helping kick off the UK’s EV revolution back in 2011.
For drivers weighing up whether an ageing EV is still worth running, this kind of real-world mileage data is arguably more useful than any manufacturer warranty. Three billion collective miles across the fleet suggests these vehicles are proving durable well beyond their first owner — a reassuring sign for anyone looking at a used Leaf or e-NV200 for daily driving or private hire work.
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