Green Car Debut

Nissan Turns Over New Leaf, Unveils Electric Car

By Amy Linn, 8-03-09

Get your motors running, electric car devotees: Nissan on Sunday unveiled its first all-electric car, the Leaf, according to a report in Grist from Agence France-Presse. Nissan’s mid-sized hatchback is slated to go on sale in late 2010 in Japan, the United States, and Europe, the Grist story says.

Nissan hopes the pure electric vehicle will “lead the way to a zero-emission future” and attract hordes of eco-conscious buyers, many of whom long for an affordable car that is greener than today’s hybrids. The Leaf can travel more than 100 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of 87 miles per hour, Nissan said. Company executives, who held a press conference about the car at Nissan headquarters in Japan, did not give a list price for the Leaf, but said it would cost about the same as a comparable gas-powered model.

Although it’s being billed as the world’s first affordable electric car, the Leaf won’t be the first all-electric car to get to today’s marketplace. Mitsubishi Motors is already rolling out its i-MiEV minicar, and Fuji Heavy Industries is selling the Subaru Plug-in STELLA, according to Grist.

Here’s what Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn told Agence France-Presse about the new auto:

--“The Leaf is totally neutral to the environment: there is no exhaust pipe, no gasoline-burning engine. There is only the quiet, efficient power provided by our own lithium-ion battery packs.” (The battery packs aren’t included: they will be leased separately. But Ghosn said the monthly battery costs will be be less than the cost of gasoline.)

--Owners will be able to recharge the battery at home in about eight hours, or juice it up in about 30 minutes at electric recharging stations.

“We need to invest a lot of money to build the car plants and the battery plants at a moment where all the auto companies are saving investments,” as Ghosn was quoted in Grist. “But there is such a high potential that we [will] go ahead with it.”

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