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The Japanese company increased its sales 23% to nearly 10 million vehicles in 2012.

Global heavyweights are revving up for a share of the electric vehicle market in New Zealand.

Nissan, Toyota and Honda pitched their plans for next generation vehicle roll-out at the 2010 EECA Biofuels & Electric Vehicles conference in Wellington this week, to an audience including local government representatives and the motor vehicle industry.

At a sustainable vehicle conference in Wellington, Shell appeared as Nissan’s weapon of choice when advertising electric vehicle charging in NZ.

Under the heading ‘Field test of solar panel, storage, quick charge’, the yellow and red stripe blazed strong, yet Private Bin was unaware of any such trial on NZ shores.

A spokesman for new brand owners Greenstone Energy confirmed that the Shell visibility was a happy marketing coincidence, and that the provision of quick solar charging for electric cars was not on the company’s immediate agenda.