The Himalayan country of Bhutan and Nissan, manufacturer of the LEAF EV, are teaming up to help make the world leader in “Gross National Happiness” the world’s leader in electric vehicle population. Back in February, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn met in Thimphu to announce an initiative that will enable the country to achieve its ambitious clean energy goals.
“We will develop a program,” said Tobgay. “We will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date. We cannot go on this journey ourselves. We need the world to travel with us, and what better partner than to have the Nissan LEAF help us along this journey.”
Bhutan is well-known for its creation of renewable hydropower energy, but the country itself only utilizes 5 percent of its own supply and exports the majority of its hydro-electricity to India. That revenue is in turn used to import fuel from India in order to fuel Bhutan’s vehicles.
Bhutan and Nissan intend to turn the tables by allowing the nation to use the majority of the energy it creates for its own purposes and reduce its reliance on crude oil energy. Nissan, though Thunder Motors (Bhutan’s primary vehicle supplier), will aim to make their LEAF and the quick charger kits that power them as abundant as happiness.
Is a zero emissions future possible, and should more countries/companies follow the example set by Bhutan and Nissan?
