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Nissan’s first EV will be unmistakable on the roads

 
3 1,389 views May 25, 2009

nissan zev prototype 006

Nissan has already given us a preview of its first EV in the form of last year’s Nuvu hatchback concept

Nissan has already given us a preview of its first EV in the form of last year’s Nuvu hatchback concept

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Nissan may be releasing a new all-electric vehicle next year, but the styling of the car has yet to be finalized, which makes speculation about its appearance rather difficult. To help us out, Nissan's chief designer Shiro Nakamura has come out and provided some clues about the new EV's styling.

The new Nissan EV will shock viewers with its appearance, Nakamura explained to Automotive News, adding that this is a tactic designed on purpose to make sure the public knows that this is an all-electric car and not just a hybrid. In this vein, the car will be avoiding the wedge-shape adopted by the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight like the plague, and instead will be drawing on specific EV features distinguish it.

Perhaps the most striking of these features will be the car's lack of a grille - after all, the electric drivetrain doesn't really need one. Since there is no bulky engine up front, the car will also have a very low hood to help improve aerodynamics and give it a bold appearance. Even if pedestrians ignore all those 'subtle' clues to car's electric status, a recharging plug will be visible on its nose, leaving no doubt about the power source.

Nakamura also revealed that the design has a drag coefficient of 0.30. The third-generation Prius has 0.25 and the Insight 0.28, but Nissan hopes to make further improvements by tweaking the design and adding underbody fittings to smooth air flow.

While the car won't be as constrained in its design as conventional vehicles, its designers were not exactly given free reign considering that it will sit on an existing Nissan platform. Because of this, the designers couldn't fully exploit the design possibilities presented by the electric car, but this has also helped them keep costs of development down.

This fact will change in the future as Nissan develops specific platforms for electric vehicles and lets its designers work from scratch. In the mean time, Nissan is hoping that its new design will be bold enough to stand out in the upcoming crowd of electric vehicles.

For more details about the upcoming car, including powertrains and pricing, click here. The carmaker has also given us a preview of the car in the form of the Nuvu concept, which was revealed last year at the Paris Motor Show.
Nissan next-generation electric and hybrid prototypes
2008 Nissan Nuvu concept hatchback

HI-RES GALLERY: nissan zev prototype 006

HI-RES GALLERY: 2008 nissan nuvu concept paris 048




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Comments (3)

  1. ma_tache avatar tache Posted: 5/25/2009 8:39pm PDT

    looks like a buble up Nissan Micra
     
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  2. ma_NC2010 avatar NC2010 Posted: 5/26/2009 3:45am PDT

    Why does Nissan (and many other Asian makers) think cars have to look like cartoon characters? What ever happened to good clean design? Even parent Renault doesn't make cars look this goofy and they have a long history of goofy.
     
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  3. ma_JSH avatar JSH Posted: 5/26/2009 5:29am PDT

    Asian automakers design cars with cartoon proportions because Asians like cars with cartoon proportions. They do it for the home market.
     
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