Nissan has become the first ever car maker to apply glow-in-the-dark to one of its models, painting the Leaf in paint that will glow in the dark for up to 10 hours.

NISSAN UK SAYS IT’S painted one of its all-electric Leafs in glow-in-the-dark paint to showcase how the Leaf is helping owners switch to solar energy at home. Huh?

According to research by Nissan 89% of Leaf owners charge their cars at home overnight. Although solar panels do not store energy or provide it outside of daylight, any leftover power generated during the day is fed back into the national grid and homeowners can get a Government payment for it, meaning that the overnight charge is already paid for.

Leaf owner Ian, says Nissan, is one of those who has combined the savings offered by running an all-electric vehicle with solar panels to power his home.

“Running the Nissan LEAF costs a sixth of the amount we’d pay to run a diesel or petrol car,” he said.

“Overall, we are probably using 25% less electricity thanks to our solar panels and it’s a fantastic experience to be able to drive the LEAF using electricity that’s been produced completely for free.”

Now what about this paint? Well, it’s not commercially available, but if it was, Nissan says it would last around 25 years. Now, glowing paint isn’t a new thing, but Nissan says its paint is unique in that it’s made up of organic materials which can soak up UV rays during the day and then glow for between eight and 10 hours at night.

It’s a nice gimmick, but is it range anxiety that’s really holding us back from embracing electric cars in this country, or is it perceived lack of range. Most people drive less than 20km a day. Vehicles like the Tesla Model S, Leaf and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can travel a lot further than that on battery power.