Following on from the LEAF iAd that was launched last summer to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 4, a new campaign using iAds has been launched in the US to help market the fourth generation of the Quest minivan. The interactive ads give families a chance to win a Quest and a holiday at Disneyland.

LEAF, Quest and the supermini crossover Juke all appeal to early adopters and align well with Apple’s own market demographic. The campaign takes advantages of iOS users’ willingness to engage with these interactive ads and supply information about themselves to participating brands. The Quest iAds can be seen on a number of sites, including the New York Times and The Weather Channel. Amy Greenlaw sent us these screen grabs of the weather.com version.

Writing on fleetdirectory.co.uk, Alisdair Suttie considers the benefits of zero emissions motoring for business drivers who don’t have to travel long distances. While conventional wisdom points to a top-end, low emissions diesel with excellent fuel economy for any business driver with a £25,000 budget, LEAF is appealing enough – adequate space, tax breaks, low overall running costs (‘fuel’ and maintenance) – to make it a real company car contender.

After nearly a week as the owner of a gleaming, jet black LEAF, having collected it from Glyn Hopkin in Waltham Abbey last Monday (see picture), broadcaster Mark Goodier has written an update on his blog about the experience of being one of the very first to drive the car on a daily basis in the UK. When he wrote the update last week, he hadn’t had enough time behind the wheel yet to report on real-world range:

“That’s for this weekend when I become cabbie to my son Jamie ferrying him up the M1 to sit his driving theory test. On his first drive in the Leaf he said it is the coolest car we have ever had.”

Mark has spent plenty of time calculating the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), though:

” … the maths for me driving into London every day make it a no brainer. £2K on congestion. No road tax. Parking in London every day £5K. In just over 3 years you’ve paid for it and you’ve still got the Leaf. Add to that 2 or 3 pence a mile as opposed to 3 times that in a petrol or diesel car and you’re saving again.”

Nissan was one of the key sponsors of the 2011 Ideal Home Show, which ended yesterday. We visited Earls Court last week to see how things were going. We spoke to Nissan’s team leader at the show, Mark Ellis, and Ben Howells.

Mark was happy with visitor traffic, reporting that pretty much every day had been packed out. LEAF proved to be a huge attraction. While the other cars on show – Qashqai, Juke and Micra – were popular, almost everybody who visited the stand took a look at LEAF.

And there were LOTS of considered and intelligent questions concerning battery life, recycling, the practicalities of charging at home and the Total Cost of Ownership.

Overall, it was a busy two weeks, all the cars got their share of the spotlight, but it was LEAF that stole the show for Nissan. LEAF was also voted Best Product overall for 2011 by the organisers.

As a main sponsor of this year’s Ideal Home Show at London’s Earl’s Court, Nissan has a prominent stand in the centre of the main hall, beside a large artificial lake. On the opposite side is a row of impressive-looking buildings, including The Prince’s House, HRH The Prince Of Wales’s answer to eco-living (and the first time a royal house has been built for the show since 1925). It’s a low carbon home made from natural and recycled materials. The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment claims is just as low carbon as some of its high tech alternatives.

During a visit to the show, the Prince took a stroll over to the Nissan stand to look at LEAF. He was greeted by Nissan’s Mark Ellis (the two are pictured here chatting). As you might expect, the Prince demonstrated a detailed knowledge of EVs and zero-emission motoring, and asked all the right questions, about batteries, range, recycling and sustainability.

The Prince revealed that The Duchy Of Cornwall Estate already owns a number of hybrid vehicles. Could he have possibly been asking all those questions with the idea in mind of adding a family-sized all-electric Japanese hatchback – or several? – to the fleet?

For his latest feature article, Men’s Journal’s Ezra Dyer took a LEAF out for a spin in LA with filmmaker Chris Paine – of ‘Who Killed The Electric Car?’ and ‘Revenge Of The Electric Car’ fame.

Ezra describes Chris as “a man possessed” by EVs and all things electric. He already owns all-electric cars, including a Tesla, has a LEAF on order (in Cayenne Red), and his garage roof is covered in solar panels [it would be really interesting to find out how much he pays his electricity provider a year ...].

In the article, Ezra makes an interesting observation: for Chris and his fellow early adopters, owning and driving an EV was to be the underdog, part of a minority up against ‘the man’. Now they have, in effect, what they were fighting for – a mainstream mass-produced family car from a major manufacturer – where will they direct their energies now?

They’re still tweaking the audio and the colour correction, but the pressure’s on for the makers of a new feature documentary about the resurgence of interest in all-electric cars to finish the post production on time. On 22 April – Earth Day – at the TriBeCa film festival, ‘Revenge Of The Electric Car’ will have its world premiere..

The film tells the story of how the electric car has come back in from the cold after several years in the motoring wilderness. It follows three manufacturers – Nissan, Chevrolet and Tesla – and an independent car conversion group for three years as they bring their vehicles to market and evangelise about moving towards zero emissions electric mobility.

Every car major maker is developing an electric vehicle or adapting an existing car to run on electricity. The film’s writer and director Chris Paine (who made ‘Who Killed The Electric Car?’) sets out to capture the atmosphere of drama and excitement as he and his crew follow:

“the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself.”

If you want to see ‘Revenge Of The Electric Car’ in your city, click here and fill out the request form. If enough people from your area submit a request, you could be lucky enough to attend a local screening.

If you want to keep up with the conversation surrounding the film, follow the blog and become a Facebook friend, joining the 13,299 who already ‘like’ the film. You can also follow @chrispaine on Twitter.

If you’re at the Ideal Home Show this week – it ends on Sunday, 27 March – make sure you check out the Nissan stand (1H30), where you’ll find all you need to know about the LEAF, the fourth generation Micra City Car, the new Juke supermini crossover and the million-selling Qashqai …

A really handy Google map has been published showing the network of fast charging points for LEAF EVs around the UK, starting with those located on dealer’s sites. Here’s the list as of 5 March:

• Alex F. Noble & Son, Edinburgh
• Ancaster Nissan, Penge
• Beadles Nissan, London SE9
• Benfield Motors, Newcastle
• Colliers Nissan, Acocks Green, Birmingham
• Desira Group Nissan, Norwich
• FJ Chalke Wincanton
• Glyn Hopkin, Colchester
• Glyn Hopkin, Romford
• Glyn Hopkin, Waltham Abbey
• Hurst Nissan Centre, Belfast
• JFE, Exeter
• Lightcliffe Nissan, Halifax
• Motorline, Tunbridge Wells
• Smiths, Peterborough
• Wessex Garages, Cardiff
• West Way Aldershot
• West Way Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield
• West Way Oxford
• West Way Southampton
• West Way Stockport
• West Way Stourbridge
• West Way Worthing
• West Way Manchester
• Westover Nissan
• Fred Coupe (Preston)

The first of many. New UK LEAF owners Mark Goodier and Richard Todd prepare to leave Glyn Hopkin in Waltham Abbey, Essex in their brand-new black EVs.