Nissan EV moves electric car closer to reality

It’s called the Leaf in Japan, and whether or not Nissan’s production electric car carries that name in the United States, the company insists that the car will be on the road before the end of 2010.

Slightly larger than the familiar Versa subcompact, the zero-emissions Leaf was unveiled Aug. 2 at a dedication ceremony for Nissan’s new global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. The Leaf’s range surpasses the daily needs of all but the longest commuters, and it demonstrates once again that the oft-maligned auto industry is ahead of the game when it comes to clean air–or at least ahead of the electricity-generating industry in North America.

The Leaf EV is a zippy little hatchback, with decent room for five and excellent cargo space. Yet the biggest news–perhaps the closest thing to a breakthrough–lies in its battery pack. Unless the Chevrolet Volt hybrid beats it to market, the Leaf will be the first volume-produced road car with lithium-ion batteries.

Now familiar in laptops, mobile phones and other small appliances, lithium-ion

batteries were long considered poorly suited for automotive applications. Nissan, however, has been developing them for the purpose jointly with NEC electronics since 1992. A plant manufacturing the batteries for the Leaf opened in Kama, Japan, in 2007, and a satellite factory is under construction–with the help of a U.S. Department of Energy grant–near Nissan’s North American headquarters in Smyrna, Tenn.

source: autoweek