Nissan to Start Sales of Electric Vehicle Leaf
- 14 years ago
Nissan says it will start selling a battery-powered hatchback in December. Nissan hopes to sell 6,000 cars over the next year, but it doesn't come cheap.
Nissan Motor announces it will start selling an electric-powered vehicle in December.
[Toshiyuki Shiga, CEO, Nissan Motor]: (male, Japanese)
"We have decided to produce Leaf vehicles at our Sunderbird factory in the U.K., thus establishing a production system in three different regions - Japan, the United States and Europe.”
Nissan aims to sell 6,000 Leaf cars in Japan for the year ending in March 2011. The company will start taking orders for the model on April 1st in Japan.
[Toshiyuki Shiga, CEO, Nissan Motor]: (male, Japanese)
"Nissan is committed to becoming the leader in the world of electric vehicles and we are doing all we can to achieve that goal together with our alliance partner, Renault. To this end, our alliance is making an investment worth 500 billion yen globally."
Nissan expects ten percent of the world's auto market will be electric vehicles by 2020, a ratio at the top of industry projections.
The car will cost more than $32,000 after Japanese government subsidies.
The cost of batteries and the reluctance of consumers to pay more upfront for fuel-saving technology are seen as the major hurdles to more people driving electric vehicles.
The five-passenger Leaf is designed to travel up to 100 miles at a time. Nissan developed the Leaf battery pack with NEC Corp and it can be recharged overnight on a 220-volt connection.
While skeptics are abound, almost all major automakers are working on developing battery-run cars for use mainly in urban areas, to meet stricter emissions and mileage regulations being introduced around the world.
Nissan Motor announces it will start selling an electric-powered vehicle in December.
[Toshiyuki Shiga, CEO, Nissan Motor]: (male, Japanese)
"We have decided to produce Leaf vehicles at our Sunderbird factory in the U.K., thus establishing a production system in three different regions - Japan, the United States and Europe.”
Nissan aims to sell 6,000 Leaf cars in Japan for the year ending in March 2011. The company will start taking orders for the model on April 1st in Japan.
[Toshiyuki Shiga, CEO, Nissan Motor]: (male, Japanese)
"Nissan is committed to becoming the leader in the world of electric vehicles and we are doing all we can to achieve that goal together with our alliance partner, Renault. To this end, our alliance is making an investment worth 500 billion yen globally."
Nissan expects ten percent of the world's auto market will be electric vehicles by 2020, a ratio at the top of industry projections.
The car will cost more than $32,000 after Japanese government subsidies.
The cost of batteries and the reluctance of consumers to pay more upfront for fuel-saving technology are seen as the major hurdles to more people driving electric vehicles.
The five-passenger Leaf is designed to travel up to 100 miles at a time. Nissan developed the Leaf battery pack with NEC Corp and it can be recharged overnight on a 220-volt connection.
While skeptics are abound, almost all major automakers are working on developing battery-run cars for use mainly in urban areas, to meet stricter emissions and mileage regulations being introduced around the world.