Nissan LEAF Blazes New Trail for Bluegrass Underground

“I just can’t be happy since you went away…”
Bluegrass legend Del McCoury is crooning one of his classic laments, as a video camera on a 20-foot jib swoops over the stage and across an enthusiastic audience.

“…I keep searching for happiness, though it seems I never win.”

McCoury has been performing since the 1960s and has sung this song countless times before. But, this time, it’s different.

He is more than 300 feet underground with a full TV production crew, a dozen other musical acts and 500 of his closest friends. They are taping a new season of “Bluegrass Underground,” sponsored on PBS by Nissan, on location in the Cumberland Caverns of Warren County, TN.

The video, lighting and sound gear required for this production can’t be hand carried into the cave. Vehicles are needed to traverse a long, constricted dirt passageway with steep inclines. But, off-road four-wheelers pollute the still air of this unique environment.

“Bluegrass Underground” producer Todd Mayo observed that it took 3 million years for nature to form the Cumberland Caverns, and now that it is being filled with music, it is important to be “in harmony” with the world down there.

“Bringing combustible engines into the cave to get the gear and our artists into the cave has been a problem,” said Mayo. “Now we have a solution.”

The 100% all-electric Nissan LEAF is an answer because it emits no emissions for the cave or the performers to absorb, and for the crew and audience to inhale. Carrying McCoury into the cave for his performance, the LEAF traverses the rock passageways with only inches of clearance on each side and, in spots, above. With an incredulous smile, McCoury describes his trip underground as the strangest ride of his life and praised the LEAF’s handling.

Sara Schaffer, a bassist for the David Mayfield Parade, had not ridden in an electric car before, not to mention underground.

“It makes it a lot easier for all of us to breath which is cool, and I like it better than the four wheelers because of the (lack of) noise,” said Schaffer. “You could be slipping in and out with people not even noticing. It’s really neat.”

Violet lights bathe the rock walls all around as the Del McCoury Band performs its American roots style of music.

“If you don’t want me,” sings McCoury, banjo and fiddle galloping in pace with his old guitar, “I’ll dry my tears and move on.”

Cumberland Caverns once stored civil war gunpowder. Moonshiners have used it, and now an electric car moves musicians and equipment in and out of this historic monument.

And, earlier, as McCoury stepped out of the LEAF and marveled at the ancient environment into which it brought him to perform, he had mused about this unexpected experience: “Guess only my music stays the same.”

Nissan USA

Nissan LEAF wins Japan Car of the Year

Nissan LEAF won Japan's Car of the Year Saturday, its fourth major accolade this year and key media recognition at the nation's major auto show.
Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said the award, the first for Nissan by Japanese media since the early 1990s, was reflective of the hard work of staff and growing global consciousness about zero emission potential.
"I think this is a big challenge for Nissan, to make a zero-emission, mobile society," he said.

“This (award) as a first step — I am so glad, so happy, to receive this 2011-2012 Japan Car of the Year award.”

Some 20,000 Nissan LEAFs have been sold so far, an early Eco-ramp up that will see the number of zero emission vehicles made by Nissan and Renault exceed 1 million by mid-decade.

The Japan Car of the Year announcement came on the Tokyo Motor Show's first day open to the public.
Some 800,000 visitors are expected during the show's run until December 11, while test rides in the LEAF will be possible for visitors to the show by reservation. Here is the link to order your leaf from Grossman Nissan : ORDER LEAF

-Consumer Report

New 2012 Leaf expands in the U.S.

With 20,000 Nissan Leafs finding homes since going on sale last December, the Japanese automaker is expanding the availability of the electric hatchback to seven more states to heighten the electrification of the world. This week, Nissan has reopened ordering for the 2012 Nissan Leaf and begun taking new orders in Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
For the 2012 model year, Nissan is including once-optional cold-weather features and the quick charger as standard as the car finds colder climates. Still, Nissan’s Brian Carolin, Nissan’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, said that the car’s success is proof that the electric Leaf “fulfills the daily needs of drivers from all walks of life.” This comes despite the car’s 100-mile range per full charge.
Through November, Nissan has sold 8720 Leafs in the U.S. with a full-scale push to reach 20,000 sales annually after its first full year. The Leaf now on sale in 29 states and Washington D.C., and Nissan says it’s on pace to open up nationwide sales of its compact electric vehicle by March 2012.

-Nissan USA