Diesel-powered generator trucks:
If your Leaf EV goes limp near Nissan headquarters in Japan, help is on the way. But it’s not very green.
In a test program in its home prefecture south of Tokyo, Nissan’s 5-ton “EV rescue vehicle,” with a 29-kilowatt diesel-slurping mobile generator, speeds to the aid of EV drivers with dead batteries.
Nissan began testing the truck last week, working with the Japan Automobile Federation and Japan’s environment ministry.
Nissan, which aims to take the global lead in electric vehicles with its battery-powered Leaf hatchback, says the truck is a safety net for drivers who suffer from range anxiety — the sinking feeling that they might not make it home.
The Japan Automobile Federation, Japan’s version of AAA, says it rode to the rescue of broken-down electric cars 86 times from last summer through April. In 73 cases it was because the electric vehicle had drained its battery.