Nissan is today celebrating a substantial milestone in its EV history, with UK owners of its electric cars and vans having driven a staggering three billion miles between them.
Compiled using DVLA mileage data about electric Nissans registered in the UK, the landmark figure of 3,027,603,142 miles is the equivalent of driving to the moon and back more than 6,000 times – or from Sunderland to Tokyo more than 340,000 times.
The achievement is a testament to Nissan’s 15 years of uninterrupted EV sales in the UK, a record unmatched by any other car maker. LEAF is also the first EV from a major manufacturer to be produced across three separate model generations.
With zero emissions ‘at the tailpipe’, Nissan EV drivers have significantly reduced the environmental impact of their travel in the UK, be it trips to work, school runs or holidays. Had all these journeys instead been made by petrol-powered cars of a similar size, their tailpipe emissions could have totalled more than half a million tonnes of CO2*.
Nissan EVs in the UK: a brief history
The first-generation LEAF went on sale in the UK in 2011, bringing affordable electric motoring to the masses for the first time, and was built at Sunderland from 2013. The e-NV200 electric van followed in 2014, proving that LCV users could also experience the benefits of zero-emission driving.
2018 saw LEAF enter its second generation, with an all-new model that proved even more popular than its first iteration. ARIYA, Nissan’s first electric crossover, arrived in 2022, with buyers loving its sleek looks and spacious, lounge-like interior, and the model earning rave reviews, as well a coveted Car of the Year title from Auto Express.
MICRA joined the lineup in late 2025, bringing an electric supermini to Nissan showrooms for the first time. And now, in 2026, the all-new, third-gen LEAF has arrived, the most advanced, spacious and efficient iteration of the iconic EV to date, which was recently named Auto Express Car of the Year 2026.
All three generations of LEAF have been produced in Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the north east of England, where the new car will soon be joined by an all-electric Juke as part of the brand’s EV36Zero strategy, which includes using renewable energy generated on-site by wind and solar, and battery packs made next door in Nissan partner AESC’s gigafactory.
James Taylor, Managing Director of Nissan Motor GB, said: “Nissan has been a pioneer and leader in electric vehicles for more than 15 years, and figures like this only underscore that point. For our EVs to have covered more than three billion electric miles across the UK is an incredible milestone, and one that everyone at Nissan should be proud of.
“The first-generation LEAF kicked off the EV revolution back in 2011, so it’s fantastic to see in real terms the impact that Nissan’s ever-growing electric model range has had since then. Now, with the all-new LEAF and MICRA in showrooms and on our roads, joining thousands of ARIYA, Townstar and Interstar models, we are helping even more people experience the benefits of all-electric motoring.
“A big thanks must go to our fantastic customers too, who in many cases were real trailblazers in the early days of EVs: believing in our vision of fully electric motoring from day one, and without whom we couldn’t have reached this incredible landmark.”
Prices for Nissan’s new electric passenger car lineup starts from as little as £21,495 for the 40kWh MICRA Engage (including £1,750 electric car grant), while LEAF starts from £28,849 for the 52kWh Engage model (including the full £3,750 electric car grant). MY26 ARIYA is available from £37,000 and is also expected to benefit from the Electric Car Grant when homologated.
* Actual figure calculated as approx. 584,695 tonnes of CO2, based on emissions of 120g/km (matching an average C-segment petrol-powered hatchback on sale today) multiplied by 3,027,603,142 miles.
