NISSAN has produced a special edition of its Leaf electric hatchback to celebrate the 100,000 global sales milestone. 

To mark the event a promotional car has been covered in 50,000 two pence coins from the UK and 50,000 two cent Euro coins, which add 504kg to the vehicle's weight. The Japanese car maker said it represented the Leaf's low running costs of 2p per mile and less than 2 cents per kilometre. 

Creating the coined-covered car took a specialist team of three people seven days to complete.

The actual 100,00th car, a white top-of-the-range Leaf built at the firm's Sunderland factory, has been sold to dentist Brett Garner from Hampshire.

"For such a revolutionary car, to achieve this sales milestone in such a short space of time is a major achievement," said Guillaume Cartier, senior vice president of sales and marketing, at Nissan Europe.

"Don't forget that when Nissan LEAF was launched in 2010, the charging infrastructure was in its infancy. But that didn't deter the pioneers who immediately appreciated the benefits of a purpose-designed electric vehicle.

"Three years on, many are already on their second Nissan Leaf. With five seats, practical back doors and class-leading boot space volume, the Nissan Leaf is the electric vehicle for the real world.

"Today, meanwhile, many cities have growing networks of quick chargers and this is helping accelerate sales of the multi-award winning Leaf."

Nissan has sold more than 1,300 of the new version of the Leaf since it started production in Sunderland last April.

The first generation Leafs were made in Japan and the US.