The Nissan Leaf remained the world's most popular electric vehicle in 2014, propelling zero emissions sales for the Renault-Nissan Alliance to grow by nearly a quarter over the course of the year.

 

The latest sales figures from the alliance show the companies sold 82,602 electric vehicles in 2014, of which the Leaf accounted for 74 per cent.

 

As a result, Renault-Nissan remains the biggest seller of EVs globally, holding a market share of 56 per cent, the alliance said.

 

Since the Leaf launched in 2010, the alliance has sold a total of 217,365 electric vehicles worldwide. The Leaf's top markets are the US, followed by Japan, then Europe.

 

Renault has also sold a total of 56,499 electric vehicles worldwide since its first EV, the Kangoo Z.E., went on sale in October 2011.

 

Meanwhile, Nissan revealed this week that research into how local electricity networks can cope with charging a cluster of EVs at peak time is progressing well.

 

The My Electric Avenue trials aim to test grid balancing technology that could reduce power demand from charging EVs when the grid is under pressure.

 

Nissan says it now has more than 200 people taking part in the My Electric Avenue trials, exceeding its target to recruit 10 neighborhoods in 10 streets from across the UK. One neighborhood in South Shields has 23 people taking part - thought to be the biggest residential EV cluster in the UK.

 

Paul O'Neill, EV manager for Nissan, said My Electric Avenue is now in the process of collecting data about charging patterns and the impact they have on the local electricity network.

 

"The all-electric Nissan Leaf is a pioneer in its own right and we're delighted that it is playing such a major role in My Electric Avenue's ground-breaking research," he said. "Not only is My Electric Avenue helping us to understand the impacts of electric vehicle charging in concentrated areas, but it is also giving us a clear vision of what the streets of the future may look like and that is very exciting."