Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. have signed a "Partnership Agreement for Sustainable Town Development Utilizing Electric Vehicles." Through the promotion of electric vehicles (EVs), they will work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and solve regional issues. Furthermore, in the event of a large-scale power outage due to earthquakes or other disasters, EVs such as the "Leaf" will be utilized as a power source to effectively support disaster victims.

As an SDGs Future City, Matsuyama City aims to realize a sustainable society and is working with public-private partnerships to solve various regional challenges in areas such as the environment and disaster prevention. Under the basic philosophy of "Zero Carbon City Matsuyama – A Smart City Where Everyone Can Live with Peace of Mind," and as an environmental model city, it aims to achieve a society with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In particular, Matsuyama City is developing an energy business that utilizes renewable energy from biomass derived from waste, centered around its clean centers (waste incineration plants). The city's clean centers have promoted local energy consumption by generating electricity using the heat energy from waste incineration, securing stable, uninterrupted power, and selling surplus electricity.

With this agreement, Matsuyama City will consider introducing EVs and install EV chargers at each of its clean centers to charge EVs with electricity sold from the centers. This will establish a system to utilize EVs for power supply in emergencies.

Additionally, Matsuyama City, also known as a tourist destination, is installing EV chargers at Dogo Onsen and Matsuyama Castle to create an environment where tourists can easily visit by EV. Following the heavy rains in July 2018, which caused significant damage including flooded homes in Ehime Prefecture, this agreement also aims to strengthen disaster preparedness by utilizing EVs.

Nissan Motor Corporation, on the other hand, announced its "Blue Switch" initiative for electrification in Japan in 2018 to address challenges such as environmental load reduction and disaster countermeasures. The company aims to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by collaborating with local governments and companies nationwide to solve regional issues such as climate change countermeasures, disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, energy management, and depopulation in tourism areas through the promotion of EVs.