World's First Electric Nissan LEAF Limo Debuts In Tennessee

Inside it's a limo and outside it's a stretched Nissan LEAF.

"This is the world's first road-worthy, licensed, street legal electric limousine," said Trevor Goulding, Director of Sales for Embassy Suites Nashville South.

"I don't know how they did it, if they cut a car in half, but it's really interesting and fun that they did," said first-time passenger Krystal Serrano.

The Embassy Suites Hotel in Nashville, TN needed a new way to shuttle guests. Their typical trip is less than five miles from the hotel. The hotel chain is committed to luxury and going green, so they contracted a company to create a LEAF limo.

"The LEAF will be primarily VIP car service, anybody who is looking for that special treatment to get around in the area," said Goulding.

Imperial Limo Land of Springfield, Missouri is responsible for this eco-friendly limo. The company stretched a Leaf from its stock length of 175 inches to 223. Limo Land has been working on this project since the Leaf went on sale last year.

Like most limos, Limo Land stretched the Leaf by cutting the car in half and adding a section in the middle. Before it could do that, the Leaf’s floor-mounted battery pack had to be removed. Because of the four-foot section added to the middle, the pack now sits further toward the rear of the car than it did before.

To fill up the extra space inside, Limo Land replaced the stock Leaf’s rear bench seat with two rows of seats that face each other. The stretched Leaf seats seven passengers, plus the driver. They added about 400 pounds in the center of the car to make room for more seating. And they added mirrors, plush leather, and cedar paneling, synonymous with luxury limos.

"People can see, hey, look what we can do with this. It's not just a family car. We can turn it into transportation for the masses," said Goulding. The hotel's shuttle driver Phillip Huckelba said he is surprised how well the conversion worked. It fits a total of eight adults, including the driver comfortably. "I think it will catch on once the word is out there. It always takes one to get something started," said Huckelba.

Many of the hotel's guests have never even been inside an electric car before. Krystal Serrano never had until she rode for the first time in the hotel's LEAF limo. "It feels so smooth. You can't even really hear the engine running, but it wasn't like being in a golf cart either. It was like being in a limousine," said Serrano.

Hotel workers and guests are electrified about what they see as a first glimpse into the future for fully electric luxury excursions.

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