An all-electric Nissan Leaf has been drafted in to a remote base run by the UK’s Met Office on Ascension Island to provide an eco-friendlier travel option.

The Met Office is using the Nissan Leaf for “various business purposes” on Ascension Island

The vehicle was supplied by a Nissan dealership in South West England after the Met Office decided the time was right to deploy an electric vehicle for its base, which is more than 4,000 miles away from the UK.

The volcanic island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, forms part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and is home to a small team of people who work for the government agency.

Bosses at the Met Office’s headquarters in Exeter got in touch with the team at South West Nissan to see if they would be able to supply a Leaf. The sale was arranged with Jon Davies, commercial vehicle specialist at the dealership, and the car then headed off on a Merchant Navy ship sailing from Southampton to the South Atlantic.

The Leaf is now being used for “various business purposes” and is charged via a solar-powered charging station – showing that charging needn’t even be a problem for remote islands out in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Its arrival on Ascension Island represents a milestone in the island’s quest for sustainability – and demonstrates that even remote territories have a role to play in going zero emission.

Nissan ended UK production of the current Leaf in Sunderland in March as it pushes ahead with work to transform the plant into a flagship electric vehicle hub, which will be home to the Leaf’s successor from 2026. The all-new version of the Leaf will be based on the Chill-Out Concept unveiled in 2021, and accompanied by future fully electric versions of the Qashqai and Juke crossovers on the production lines.

However, the current Leaf remains on sale in the UK with good supply in 2024. Available versions are viewable on Nissan.co.uk’s car configurator. Production of the Leaf continues in the US and Japan and it remains on sale in other global markets.