Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn unveiled Nissan’s first zero-emission electric vehicle (EV) at the company’s new headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on Sunday, in the form of a blue hatchback. The hatchback, which is set to go on sale in Japan, the U.S. next year and worldwide from 2012, had a sporty design penned by Nissan designer, Shiro Nakamura, and was the first time the external design of the EV was revealed. Nakamura said the EV was designed to be a real car rather than a futuristic design as Nissan does not intended the Leaf to be a niche car; a sentiment reiterated by Carlos Ghosn.
Posts Tagged ‘zero-emissions’
YOKOSUKA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co. demonstrated its super-quiet, pure zero-emission electric vehicle (EV) platform on a Versa/Tiida-based prototype earlier today. The prototype uses a 24 kWh compact lithium-ion battery pack located under the vehicle floor to allow for more cabin and luggage space. The battery is recharged while the car is driving by the energy from the braking system, extending the driving range to 160 kilometres (99 miles) under a full charge. A handy navigation map screen on the EV’s dashboard provides a driving radius within range of the car’s charge, so drivers won’t get stranded on the highway. The electric motor powering the EV delivers 80 kW of power and 280 Nm of torque for response and powerful acceleration.
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Nissan have announced an almost €500 million in two plants to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EV’s) in the UK and Portugal after having secured grants from the respective governments. Nissan will invest more than €230 million in the plant near Sunderland, north east England, creating hundreds of new jobs in the UK’s recession-hit motor industry. Nissan’s investment is expected to create up to 350 direct jobs in Sunderland. Nissan will build a similar plant in Portugal, though the location of this plant has yet to be decided. Each plant would produce 60,000 batteries a year.
[Source: Reuters]
Amid an industry-wide plunge in vehicle sales, Nissan Motor Co, Japan’s No.3 automaker, has suspended its mid-term business plan named GT 2012, but with the exception of its electric vehicle ambitions. Nissan wants to close the gap with hybrid pioneers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co as consumers look increasingly to alternative-fuel vehicles. Together with its French partner, Renault SA, Nissan is aiming to become the first to mass-market pure electric vehicles with a global roll-out in 2012.
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Nissan has received conditionally approval for a $1.6 billion loan by the U.S. Department of Energy. The loan falls under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVMLP) that was authorized by Congress under Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to accelerate the development of vehicles and technologies that increase U.S. energy independence, create cleaner means of transportation and stimulate the American economy.
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