Sep 09: Nissan have almost finished developing a small EV car. They've built
an electric prototype of their Tiida model and plan to begin selling the
new car in 2010, at first just in Japan and the United States, then elsewhere.
Nissan haven't released detailed information about the car, but have said
the new EV car will be powered by an 80kW electric motor, will feature regenerative
braking and will have a range of approximately 160 kilometres.
Car manufacturers other than Toyota were slow to react when the auto market
was ready for hybrid cars and this mean't Toyota could get way ahead of
the other makers. Nissan are keen to avoid a repeat with EV's and so are
developing their electric car technology early. Toyota will already be in
the driving seat through a good reputation with their excellent gas-electric
hybrids and the technical knowledge acquired from building the electric
motors for their hybrids.