Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

An excited Yariv Nornberg bounced into the Hub Pavilion at Davos grinning from ear to ear. The reason? He’d just driven around Davos in a Renault Fluence Z.E. and he couldn’t contain his enthusiasm for Europe’s newest zero emission electric vehicle.

“What an incredible car,” he said after his lap of the town. It turns out that Yariv is no stranger to EVs. He is Policy Manager for Better Place, the company developing EV infrastructure in a number of countries including Israel, where he’s based… and he’s taking delivery of his own Renault Fluence Z.E. next week.

The hardiest soul in Davos is Lu Ying. She’s been outside the Hub Pavilion for the last five days, wrapped up against the freezing temperatures to dish out free warming cups of hot chocolate to passers-by.

The hob keeping the chocolate on the boil is powered by renewable energy supplied by Nissan LEAF – it’s the first time the innovative LEAF-to-Home technology has been demonstrated in Europe.

Lu tells us that everyone who’s sampled a cup loves the idea… find out more in her video

He visited us at the Hub Pavilion in Davos last year… and he’s been back for more this year. In 2010, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, showed great interest in our EVs, asking many questions about Nissan LEAF.

This year, Boris was tempted back to the Pavilion by a cup of hot chocolate. Hobs under the vast pans of cocoa are heated by Nissan’s innovative LEAF-to-Home technology which harnesses energy stored in Nissan LEAF’s battery to power domestic appliances.

Over a warming cuppa, the Alliance’s Matt Loader was able to tell Boris about e-LCV prototype, our battery-powered van currently undergoing trials with FedEx in London. Our LCV, NV200, is also available as a passenger vehicle, of course, so maybe we should built an electric version for the extended Johnson family!

And the chocolate? “An absolutely splendid idea,” said the Mayor.

He runs two Fortune 500 companies and travels more than 150,000 miles per year. But we caught up with Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn between sessions this week at the 2012 World Economic Forum in Davos.

Mr. Ghosn stopped by the Renault-Nissan Alliance pavilion, which showcases innovative Nissan technology called LEAF-to-Home. The system uses the electric vehicle’s battery to power household appliances. In Davos, LEAF-to-Home powers a hot chocolate stand – a popular attraction for delegates and tourists on Davos’ main street.

After a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to announce a $2 billion Nissan manufacturing facility in Mexico, Mr. Ghosn talked to Matt Loader of the Renault-Nissan Alliance communications team about the Alliance’s focus on zero-emission transportation and emerging markets.
 

Award-winning entrepreneur, Pavegen’s Laurence Kemball-Cook, explains the philosophy behind his deceptively simple invention – ‘free’ energy harvested from footsteps.

A Pavegen slab can generate up to 7 Watts of power from a single footstep – enough to power 40 LEDs for one minute.

As Laurence reveals in the video, Pavegen technology brings new meaning to the phrase power walking. Watch it now...

There are two big pieces of news from the Hub Pavilion in Davos today. The first is that the sun’s been shining all day, a real lift after the grey gloom that’s engulfed this mountaintop town since we’ve been here.

The sun lifted the mood at the 2012 World Economic Forum, too, where Microsoft Founder Bill Gates announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was to commit a further US$750m to a global fund to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The second piece of news is also weather-related… in a way!

There was a mini whirlwind down at the Davos Hub Pavilion, our home to for the week. Our Chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, made a flying visit to see the first public application in Europe of LEAF-to-Home technology – energy stored in a Nissan LEAF battery is powering the hobs keeping pans of hot chocolate on the boil, ready to be dished out to passers-by.

He stayed still long enough, however, to answer a few burning questions from the Alliance’s Matt Loader. Matt wanted to know if the huge investments in new Nissan manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Brazil would be to the detriment of investment in the Alliance’s ‘home’ markets of Europe and Japan (answer: no, it’s good news).

Matt also quizzed the CEO on the Alliance’s EV future - positive with plenty of growth potential.

As for the rest of the day, it’s been business as usual with visitors taking test drives in the fleet of Alliance EVs while the hot chocolate cup-count now stands at more than 600. For each cup consumed, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is donating US$1 to Nike’s Mata No Peito programme to save and preserve the Amazon rainforest.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the CEO’s video interview and other news. Make sure you come back and check it all out.
 

An electric vehicle is ideal for driving up (and down) snowy mountain passes. Want to know why?

Then watch Rachel Konrad, communications Director at the Renault-Nissan Alliance, as she explains all…

With the 2012 World Economic Forum now in full swing, life in Davos has stepped up a pace. Some 2,600 top business leaders and politicians will visit, including Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened Forum proceedings.

Others expected include more than 40 heads of state and 19 of the world’s most influential bankers (not to mention celebs like Mick Jagger), so it’s little wonder that security in this tiny mountaintop town is tight.

Visitors to the Hub Pavilion in Davos, Switzerland – where the Renault-Nissan Alliance is offering test drives in a fleet of zero-emission electric vehicles – are being encouraged to pace up and down in front of the welcome desk.

The reason? Kinetic energy generated by their footsteps is being converted into renewable energy to power LED lighting in the Hub.

The special walkway is the result of a collaboration between sports shoe maker Nike and Pavegen Systems. Nike Grind is a material created from recycled sports shoes and used to create athletic and playground surfaces… since the early 1990s the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe programme has recycled more than 25 million pairs.

Tiles made from Nike Grind cover the Pavilion floor and have been placed over energy harvesting equipment developed by Pavegen. As visitors walk over the tiles, they flex an imperceptible 5mm generating the renewable energy.

When a number of Pavegen slabs are linked together in a high footfall location, they can provide enough energy to power lighting for more than 12 hours, for example. And music fans at a recent UK pop festival danced on a Pavegen floor to generate electricity to recharge their mobile phones.

Walking – and dancing – is not only good for you, it's also good for the environment.

Europe’s newest production electric vehicle, the Renault Fluence Z.E., is taking a starring role in Davos, Switzerland.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has two examples of the stylish zero emission sedan running around the snow-covered streets, offering test drives to the legion of world leaders, top businessmen and opinion formers gathered in the town for the 2012 World Economic Forum.

The Renault Fluence Z.E., which has just gone on sale in Europe alongside the Renault Kangoo Z.E. - International Van of the Year 2012 -, is a well equipped and roomy four-door sedan with space for five adults and their luggage.