4 August 2009

Nissan unveils its electric car

Japan's third-largest automaker, Nissan, unplugged its version of an electric car.

Nissan will begin selling the first Leaf cars in the U.S., Japan, and Europe toward the end of 2010, adding two more models soon after. It expects production to start with about 200,000 units a year.

Nissan plans to start selling its new battery-powered all-electric car, the Leaf, next year in Japan, Europe, and the U.S.

With oil prices topping $60 even in a recession and environmental regulations tightening all the time, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said he was optimistic about electric vehicles entering the mainstream, expecting them to represent one in 10 new cars globally by 2020.

Other automakers have unveiled plans to start producing electric cars, but they say it could take decades for the vehicles to spread because of their high cost, limited driving range, and long charging times with the current battery technology.

Nissan did not announce pricing for the five-seater Leaf, but Ghosn said the price, without the expensive lithium-ion battery that Nissan is considering leasing, would be within the range of a comparable gasoline-engine car.

The Leaf has a top speed of more than 76 miles an hour and a cruising range of at least 100 miles—a distance that covers the needs of 80% of drivers, Nissan said.

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