Friday, December 24, 2010

Portugal PM to use Nissan Leaf as official car

Jose Socrates is first head of Government in the world to use electric vehicle as his official car









Portugal's Government received delivery of the first 10 Nissan Leaf EVs to be offered in Europe and one of them will go into the PM's motorcade as his official car. 

He will travel exclusively in the electric vehicle, making him the least polluting PM in the world.

While this is in line with Portugal's efforts in the field of renewable energy, one has to wonder if the Leaf is strong enough to propel an armoured version for leaders like Barack Obama and others who face genuine risk of assassination.



The 10 Nissan Leafs were delivered by Carlos Tavares, Vice-President of Nissan, in a special ceremony that took place in Parque das Nações, in Lisbon.

The Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, said: "Portugal is extremely proud of the introduction of the electric vehicle. This initiative is only possible due the fast implementation and development of the Portuguese MOBI.E Charging Network, which is considered a leading example to the world of how to roll out electric cars. Portugal is the first country in the world to have a nation-wide smart grid for electric vehicles."

Portugal has jumped on EV bandwagon by implementing an electric vehicle charging network at a national scale. The MOBI.E network currently spreads over 25 municipalities throughout the country with over 50 charging points already installed. The plan is to install more than 1300 normal charging points and 50 quick charging stations by mid-2011. Furthermore, the country generates about 45% of total electricity consumption from clean energies.

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