When young Norwegian mum Solveig Marie Ødegård decided she had to learn to drive to transport her new family around, she went to a local driving school, took some lessons and passed her test.

So far so normal. What makes Solveig Marie’s story so very different is that she took those lessons and passed the test in an electric car, a Nissan LEAF.
She has never, in her entire life, driven a car powered by a petrol or diesel engine.

Nissan’s self-driving and parking technology could revolutionize the way we drive.

Picture this. You are driving into town in your Nissan LEAF zero-emission electric car, looking for somewhere to park. Pulling into an underground parking garage, instead of circling around, trying to find a space, you simply pull up, get out, head off to the shop and let your car find its own parking space.

Sounds like science fiction? Well it’s not – this technology, developed by Nissan, is very real, and it’s already working. At the CEATEC 2012 show, Japan’s leading electronics exhibition, Nissan has been showing off the LEAF NSC-2015 prototype, a car that’s so intelligent, it can do the hard work of driving and parking for you.

Plug & Move is a new smartphone app and website designed to help electric car owners, and those thinking of buying an electric car, get the best from their zero-emissions experience.

It’s been made as part of a co-operation between AXA Assistance, EDF, Europcar, Navteq, and Schneider and features all of the our zero-emissions electric cars, including the Nissan LEAF, Renault ZOE, Fluence Z.E and Kangoo Z.E.

Join us on a whistlestop tour of the busy Renault and Nissan stands at Paris Motor Show. Discover why the Alliance is committed to increasing the number of electric vehicles on Europe’s roads and why Quick Charging is the key to future growth.

Meet ZOE, Renault’s latest EV and marvel at TeRRA from Nissan, an advanced 4X4 fuel cell electric vehicle concept.
Also at the show is Nissan Pivo 3, an ultra-compact electric city car of tomorrow.

The message from Paris? Zero Emission electric vehicles will help sustain personal mobility in the future, but they are here, now… and the Alliance is leading the EV charge.

With 38,000 examples of the pioneering Nissan LEAF sold globally so far and sales of game-changing Renault ZOE city car just about to start, the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s Zero Emission strategy is right on target according to the man who should know.
 
Visiting the Paris Motor Show, Hideaki Watanabe talks about the success of LEAF and the Alliance’s ambitious plans to have 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2016.
 
He also reveals how the Alliance is stepping up deployment of its Quick Charger programme which will allow EV drivers to recharge their batteries to 80 per cent capacity in just 30 minutes.

Renault’s new ZOE electric city car is taking pride of place alongside the new Clio at the Paris Motor Show this week.

Revealed by Alliance boss Carlos Ghosn to a huge number of journalists from all over the world, ZOE not only wears Renault’s new ‘face’, it embodies the company’s progress in four areas: design, innovation, environment and quality.

No-one should doubt Nissan’s commitment to zero emission mobility and to the electric car. That was the message coming loud and clear from Nissan Executive Vice President Andy Palmer at the Paris Motor Show this week.

As he revealed the TeRRA, an advanced fuel cell electric SUV concept, to journalists from all over the world, Palmer forecast that ‘in less than a generation’s time, there will be millions of EVs on the roads.’

On the eve of the Paris Motor Show, we’ve been out and about on the streets of the French capital trying to find out what Parisians think about electric vehicles.
 
Do they know all there is to know about cars like the Nissan LEAF and Renault Fluence Z.E. or are there still many misconceptions?
 
Watch our video to discover the word from the street… and then come back to the blog over the next few days to find out the truth from our experts at the show.

The atmosphere at the Paris Show is going to be electric… thanks to the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Both companies will be showing a number of pure electric vehicles – some already in production, some future concepts – proving that the Alliance really is the world leader when it comes to zero emission mobility.

Electric delivery vehicles are perfect for busy inner cities where the lack of tailpipe emissions and their near silent running make life far more pleasant for those who live or work there.

Equally significantly, there’s ample opportunity to recharge batteries with growing networks of regular and quick chargers available on the streets.

But EVs could have an even bigger role to play in rural areas. Nissan is about to start field tests to see whether EVs – charged overnight at home – might, in fact, provide a lifeline for residents in areas where regular fuel stations are closing down due to falling demand from an ageing and shrinking population.