For the past 17 years or so, Nissan engineers have been fiddling around with automotive-grade lithium ion battery packs. And now, largely through the electrified fruits of almost two decade’s worth of research and development labor, the Japanese automaker is poised to deliver a vehicle it believes will help it change the face of transportation as we know it.
Beginning late next year, Nissan is aiming to sell the first commercial and fleet versions of an all-new, fully electric plug-in model for select Japanese and the U.S. buyers. The effort is the first part of a plan to introduce a mass market electric vehicle (EV) for world markets by 2012.
To help demonstrate where they’re headed, Nissan had us out recently to showcase its EV technology. The presenters brought with them a second-generation Nissan Cube prototype pictured here, which is serving as one of two mules for powertrain fine tuning. Chief product planner Mark Perry was on hand at the test-drive session and mentioned to us that the Cube was chosen for its platform, which will form the basis of the as-yet-unnamed future EV.
The Cube apparently sports just the right dimensions for the new EV’s preproduction drivetrain and as such, requires no major modifications to accommodate the battery packs and other propulsion bits. Hint. Hint. What exactly that means for the production vehicle Perry wouldn’t elaborate, but we’ll leave that for you to guess. If you’re thinking five-door hatchback, you wouldn’t be too far off.
Perry and company promise the new car will feature an “iconic” design, meaning it’ll stand out from the crowd and inspire plenty of double-takes from passersby (it’s hoped, not the “what the heck were they thinking?” type of take). Nissan says the ground-up project, which is being designed to accommodate five passengers, won’t borrow any exterior panels from existing models. To add to its eco-friendly attractiveness, developers have reportedly made the car 99% recyclable and will produce it in eco-friendly factories. Its batteries can even be switched out and recycled for less waste.
While that’s all well and good, one of the main questions with all-electric vehicles is their range, and Nissan engineers claim its new EV can run up to 100 miles on a single charge.
source: motortrend
