Nissan Electric Car – Photos of the new electric car from Nissan, the Nissan Leaf EV, which is totally battery-powered and travels up to 100 miles at speeds up to 90 mph.
The Nissan electric car will debut in the U.S. in late 2010 in six states – CA, OR, WA, AZ, TN, and NC.
The compact laminated lithium-ion battery pack produces 90 kW of power and recharges completely in just eight hours on a 220-volt recharger.
The five door, five passenger Nissan Leaf EV is 100% electric with zero tailpipe emissions because no gas is required at all, so its completely environmentally friendly.
The Nissan Leaf will retail for around $30,000, but buyers will qualify for up to $7,500 in federal tax credit and possibly some state incentives as well.
A dashboard monitor displays Nissan Leaf’s remaining power – or “reachable area” – plus any nearby charging stations in Nissan’s global data center maps.
A nifty feature is the ability to use mobile phones to turn on the air-conditioning or set recharging functions, even when Nissan Leaf is powered down.
An on-board remote-controlled timer can also be pre-programmed to recharge batteries, which are also programmed to produce lower output when the batteries are 80% depleted, thereby slightly extending the driving range.
Nissan is targeting fleet buyers with some attractive fuel savings numbers that should result in limited supplies for consumers.
U.S. production will be at Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee facility.
And that’s the latest news on the 2010 Nissan Leaf EV, the new Nissan electric car.
Tags: electric car, electric vehicle, green car, nissan electric car, nissan leaf
August 13th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Very sweet ride. Can’t wait to try out the first electric car!
August 18th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Nissan to lease electric car battery pack
To the degree that price matters, Nissan’s also got a big edge in the EV world. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but the company insists the Leaf will be “affordable” with pricing equivalent to a well-equipped C-class (compact) car.
That’s a European compact, though, and they’re a lot better equipped, and more costly, than compacts in the U.S. so figure $28,000 to as much as $35,000 (the range for Nissan partner Renault’s Megane hatchback) — not super cheap, but a bit less than the five-place Chevy Volt.
And that’s before any government incentives — which could knock a substantial amount from the car’s price in Japan and would be at least $7,500 in the U.S. as long as funding continues for the federal clean car credit program.
Nissan officials say pricing was held down in part by developing the entire powertrain, including the laminated lithium-manganese battery pack — arguably the most expensive single component on the car at around $10,000 — in-house with an eye toward affordability.
But the real trick is that the batteries won’t be part of the selling price: Nissan’s global approach will be to sell the car, but lease the battery pack.
The argument for leasing is that if you buy a gasoline car, the gasoline isn’t part of the deal, and the battery pack in an EV (plus the electricity that it stores) can be likened to the gas needed to make a conventional car go.
The approach in the U.S, where consumers might be leery of buying a car, but having to lease an essential part of its powertrain, may be to simply lease the entire package, said Andy Palmer, Nissan’s senior vice president and head of product planning.
Decisions on the sales or leasing method, as well as on U.S. pricing, will be made closer to the Leaf’s late-2010 launch, Palmer said.
August 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Nissan electric car sends power alerts
To help do away with charging anxiety, Nissan has equipped the Leaf with a communications system that enables drivers to communicate in real time with a special information center to find out where the closest chargers are, which ones are open and operating, and whether they have fast or slow chargers.
The system also highlights in real time on the Leaf’s standard navigation system screens the one-way and round-trip travel ranges the car can achieve before needing a battery charge, and sends signals to a driver’s cell phone or PDA when a car plugged in at a home or public charger is topped up and ready to go.
August 25th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Your blog is so informative
September 4th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Awesome! Can’t wait to get one!
September 10th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Sweet! An all-electric car that actually looks good and is very drivable.