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Nissan planning to mass produce electric vehicles by 2012

 
4 2,000 views Jun 23, 2009

nissan zev prototype 006

The vehicle will be sized between Nissan's Sentra and Versa, and available to commercial fleets by next year

The vehicle will be sized between Nissan's Sentra and Versa, and available to commercial fleets by next year

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Promises about electric vehicles are a dime a dozen, and so far no one - not even Tesla - has managed to deliver a real daily-driving production car in volume. Nissan has so far promised to deliver its first electric vehicle by 2010, although initially it will be available only to commercial fleet customers, and now the company has revealed that mass production of the zero-emission vehicles could start by 2012.

Nissan will unveil its first electric vehicle on August 2nd, CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed today at the company’s shareholder meeting. The car will then go on sale in limited numbers in both the U.S. and Japan in April of next year before entering mass production for global sale by 2012, Ghosn also revealed.

Production sites for the vehicle will include an unnamed plant in Japan as well as Nissan’s Smyrna facility in Tennessee where up to 100,000 units could be built annually.

Ghosn gave few details, but told the Associated Press that Nissan's zero-emission cars will come with a very reasonable price. "If it's not affordable, it's not going to work," he explained.

Nissan hasn't released any official details on the car, but piecing together claims made over the last several years, we expect it to feature a leased 35kWh battery pack to help keep initial prices down and make replacement easier. This battery will power a small electric motor driving the front wheels through a single gear, delivering approximately 367mpg equivalent, or mpg-e, as measured by the U.S. government's CAFE regulations.

For more details about the upcoming electric vehicle, including powertrains and pricing, check out our previous story by clicking here.
Nissan next-generation electric and hybrid prototypes

HI-RES GALLERY: nissan zev prototype 006




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Comments (4)

  1. By biturbo Posted: 6/27/2007 11:40am PDT

    I would love to see that, an electric only affordable city car.
     
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  2. ma_JSH avatar JSH Posted: 6/23/2009 10:26am PDT

    Well that is a deal breaker for me. I will not purchase an electric car and lease a battery back. GM wasn't the only company that took back their EV's and crushed them, Nissan did too. How useful is a Nissan EV if they decide they no longer want to lease battery packs?

    I want to PURCHASE an EV. That requires the car, battery, and charge to be available for direct purchase.
     
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  3. ma_mburleigh8 avatar mburleigh8 Posted: 6/23/2009 6:36pm PDT

    Good then we won't be black mailed by opec.
     
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  4. By  cranberry extract Posted: 12/23/2009 10:06pm PST

    Japan's No. 3 automaker said it would unveil its first electric vehicle in Japan on August 2 and begin sales next year. I am waiting for it.
     
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