Nissan Inks Deal With Sibeg For 110 LEAF Vehicles & 8 DC Fast Chargers

Nissan has announced a new partnership with Sibeg, a regional bottler of Coca-Cola products in Catania, Italy, to create an ecosystem for electric vehicles and infrastructure. The new partnership is a part of what Sibeg calls the “Green Mobility Project.”

The project is comprised of the purchase of 110 of Nissan’s new LEAF and 8 DC Fast Charging stations by Siebel. The new LEAFs will be used by Sibeg’s sales representatives as they roam around visiting customers and potential customers in the region. The new vehicles will replace the vehicles leased in the first phase of the program back in 2015 when the fleet was first commissioned.

When the program was initiated in 2015, Sibeg was the first company in Europe to run its operations on fully-electric vehicles. Sibeg uses the Nissan LEAFs for the bulk of its work, along with 4 smaller electric scooters that provide electric transportation on some of the smaller islands in its territory.

The new partnership is a way for Nissan to explore the potential of its Nissan Intelligent Mobility system, which is the foundation for Nissan’s plan to reinvent the way cars are driven, powered and integrated into the world.

On the back end, Sibeg has partnered with ALD Automotive for the new fleet through its E-go Long-Term Rental program. ALD is conveniently partnered with Enel X, which is applying its vast expertise in all things electrical to the procurement and installation of the DC Fast Chargers.

This new phase of the project adds the 8 DC Fast Charging stations to Sibeg’s 7 existing DC Fast Charging stations and 53 level 2 charging points. Combined, Sibeg believes the new stations give it sufficient coverage of the entire island of Sicily for its fleet vehicles. In 2017 alone, there was a 135% increase in electric vehicle use in Sicily year over year, largely due to the visibility and utility of the new charging points.

The project demonstrates how cost effective electric vehicles can be for island communities where fuel must be imported. At the same time, the renewal of the program after leases from the first phase ended show just how practical many electric vehicles are for many fleet applications. Sales teams typically travel routes planned in advance and the addition of charging points serves to extend that functionality even further.