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Nissan to launch electric cars in three years: report
AFP
TOKYO
Petroleumworld.com 11 26 06Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan Motor plans to sell electric cars in three years in a bid to catch up with its rivals in the market for environmentally-friendly vehicles, a news report said Sunday.
The lightweight, subcompact electric model will be powered by lithium-ion batteries developed in-house, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said, without citing sources.
Electric cars are unable to travel long distances between charges, but Nissan is set to develop new technology allowing distances of about 200 kilometers (124 miles) on a single charge.
Currently, Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries lead the development of electric cars. Nissan's participation will intensify the race, Nihon Keizai said.
The car marker also plans to release gas-electric hybrid cars designed in-house by 2010. Nissan currently uses a hybrid system developed by Toyota.
Nissan had been reluctant to develop its own hybrid system due to huge development costs. But it has decided to do so to chase rivals Toyota and Honda in the eco-friendly vehicles market.
Nissan also plans to speed up the expansion of its diesel car range and the development of bioethanol cars in cooperation with top shareholder Renault, the newspaper said.
The Japanese vehicle maker developed a two-passenger, small electric car in 2000. But the model could travel only short distances of just over 100 kilometers on a single charge and never made it to full production.
Nissan was then forced to concentrate its resources on restructuring, delaying the development of eco-friendly cars, the newspaper said.
AFP 26 0438 GMT 11 06
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