Konnichiwa Japan
In September this year, I was lucky enough to be invited along to the launch of the new Nissan LEAF in Japan. From my engagement as a Nissan Australia ambassador, my interest in technological advancement of car manufacturing has increased dramatically. The LEAF is an electrical vehicle (the best-selling model worldwide) which means it has zero emissions and relies on a storage battery being charged prior to use.
For many years, EVs have been considered the future of transportation but Australia has been lacking behind the rest of the globe. It’s the classic, chicken and egg situation. No one is buying cars as there are few charging points and there is a lack of charging infrastructure being developed as there are very few EVs. Electronic cars are also not subsidised In Australia like they are in many other countries around the world.
The two day launch event commenced with the world wide launch of the new LEAF. Upon a stage in the Makuhari Messe, the sleek and shiny LEAF demonstrated the incredible advances in technology that Nissan have developed. With the ProPilot Park system, the struggle of parallel parking will seem a distant memory.
Apart from the launch, the trip was a real insight into how the motor industry has changed and potential future developments that may be on the horizon. With car manufacturing ending in Australia soon, it is quite amazing that Nissan continues to produce car parts and be an integral part of what may be considered a fading industry. The visit to the Nissan plant down in Oppama was fascinating. We saw the LEAF progressing down the production line amongst many other models and watched industrial robots complete majority of the welding.
Our last stop was at Yokohama, which is where Nissan’s head office is located but is also an appointed “FutureCity” by the Japanese Government. This is an effort to combat both a growing and aging population but also the complexities of a variety of environmental issues. We visited a building that has a plan to utilise the battery power of electronic cars in the event of an emergency blackout and saw how Yokohama has a modernised energy grid which allows real time information about consumer consumption to be monitored.
Visits to countries like Japan and especially cities like Yokohama; which are pushing the boundaries as to what is like to be modern day citizen are inspirational. The governments encourage residents to create a vision for their own city and to see this come to fruition is quite gratifying.
Big thank you to Nissan Australia for taking me on an incredible trip and to Mitch Oke for capturing all of these moments. For more content check out the Nissan Facebook page for videos!
