VIDEO: Nissan LEAF EV

04 August, 2009 11:11:00

Font size:

During the opening ceremony of the new Global Headquarters on Aug. 2 in Yokohama, Japan, Nissan has unveiled the LEAF electric vehicle - "the worldâ€™s first affordable, zero-emission car."

The Nissan LEAF electric vehicle is a quiet car with a noisy message.

The five- all-electric hatchback is powered with lithium-ion batteries (24 kWh energy storage and max output of 90kW), giving the car a top speed of 90 mph and nominal range of 100 miles – a magic number, Nissan figures, in Americans’ driving psychology.

Nissan says the electric motor will output 80 kilowatts, which is the equivalent of about 107 horsepower.

Nissan says Leaf can be fully recharged via a 220-volt household outlet in under eight hours. Leaf can be charged to 80% of its capacity in just less than half an hour if a to-be-available quick charger is used, the company says.

Nissan will begin selling the first LEAF electric cars in the United States and Japan in the latter half of next year, adding two more models soon after. Renault-badged EVs should follow soon after.

It expects production to start with around 200,000 units a year at the global roll-out in 2012.

Depending on how you define your terms, the LEAF will be the first mass-market EV sold in the U.S. since the 1920s.

The first of Nissan’s EV’s will be manufactured at Oppama, Japan, with additional capacity planned for Smyrna, Tenn. Meanwhile, lithium-ion batteries are being produced in Zama, Japan, with additional capacity planned for the U.S., United Kingdom and Portugal.

Subscribe to the RSS feed for more information on green cars, green car news & green car technologies.

-----------------------

Follow PureGreenCars on Facebook and Twitter.