Nissan electric car coming in 2010

Posted Tue Feb 26 2008 10:45 AM by Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Nissan plans to build a fully-electric road vehicle by the year 2010. While still in the early stages, it seems likely that the car will get a conventional electric motor in the front. Eventually Nissan also wants to bring in so-called wheel hub motors in which the drive unit is integrated into the rims. Doing this allows the designers to be more creative with their designs of the car, especially the interior and would free them of having to conform to the engine-seats-luggage space layout.

When asked about in-wheel motors, Nissan told Automobilwoche noncommittally that they could arrive in the market as late as 2015, even though Nissan already proved that it had the technology working in its Pivo2 concept (pictured above). The motors in each wheel of the Pivo2 were rated at 15kw, or 20hp and could accelerate the car to 120 km/h with a range of 125km.

Previously Nissan made a Mixim concept which featured Nissan’s ‘SuperMotor’ electric powertrain, consisting of a compact lithium-ion battery array powering an independent electric motor on each axle. This technology could be used on a production car by around 2010, effectively giving the production car AWD capability.

While the electric car would be cheaper to run than a fuel car as well as being much more environmentally friendly, one of its downsides is that it requires a 6-hour charge that could prove to be too inconvenient for consumers, who might prefer the economy and usability of a diesel-electric hybrid more.

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