Nissan Pushes For Cleaner Air With Electric Vehicles

Before we all get into an academic debate about environmental impact / carbon footprint of producing electric vehicle, etc, let us just look at what Nissan has found in various studies regarding air pollution. In Asia and Oceania, there are approximately four billion people i.e. 92% of Asia and the Pacific’s population, who are exposed to air pollution levels that pose a significant health risk¹.

This was further highlighted with the February 2020 launch of the world’s largest real-time air quality data bank under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), indicating that much of the region remains at ‘unhealthy’ air quality levels. Air pollution is now globally the fifth leading cause of death² among all health risks and 9% of deaths are attributed to it³.

To address this as part of its commitment to reduce CO₂ emissions, Nissan, the creator of the world’s first mass production electric vehicle Nissan LEAF⁴, has collected analysis of the impact the vehicle has had worldwide since debut in 2010. At the same time, there is compelling data to demonstrate how electric mobility can be part of solutions to address air pollution levels:

1. 
   Just one electric vehicle (EV) can save 4.6 metric tons⁵ of greenhouse gases each year, which is equivalent to planting 209 trees⁶.
2. To date 460,000+ Global Nissan LEAF Owners have contributed to:
   • Around 2.1 million metric tons of CO₂ saved. To put that in context, more than 81 million trees are needed to process that much CO₂ in a year.
   • Over 13 billion emission-free kilometers⁷ driven by LEAF owners – the distance of driving to the moon more than 33,800 times!⁸

With a 55% reduction in current CO₂ emissions needed by 2030 to halt global warming,⁹, 2020 could be the catalyst year of change for consumers making choices, like switching to EVs, to have a direct impact on air pollution.

¹ https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-report-outlines-air-pollution-measures-can-save-millions-lives
² http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/state-global-air-2019-report
³https://ourworldindata.org/air-pollution#air-pollution-is-one-of-the-world-s-leading-risk-factors-for-death
⁴https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/release-5227ef5dbab9f1e0871062f0c003e618-nissan-leaf-first-electric-car-to-pass-400k-sales
⁵ https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle
⁶ http://greenyatra.org/plantatree/offset.php
⁷Based on extrapolation of real customer data.
⁸ https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-distance/en/
⁹ https://www.fastcompany.com/90272330/global-emissions-must-drop-55-by-2030-to-meet-climate-goals