Nissan EV takes charge

Nissan revealed its production-ready electric vehicle at its impressive new Global Centre in Yokohama today.

The EV, dubbed LEAF, will be sold in the USA and Japan markets next year and is headed our way in 2012.

Nissan has developed the small-car segment LEAF with accommodation for four-to-five passengers and decent cargo space, largely due to the underfloor positioning of the battery pack. That location, chosen specifically to avoid intrusion of components into the cabin and cargo area, according to Nissan, also contributes to smoother underfloor air flow, reducing drag.

The LEAF EV uses Nissan's new dedicated EV platform, consisting of "highly rigid" body, electric motor and 24kWh laminated lithium ion battery. Output for the electric motor is rated at respectable figures of 80kW/280Nm. The battery is housed in a separate frame for extra rigidity of the platform.

Nissan says the benefits of developing a dedicated platform for electric vehicles offers "overwhelming quietness" and added safety benefits, such as the individual frame around the battery already mentioned and inverter-mounting members which also serve to increase rigidity.

The C-segment EV will take on the likes of Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid but unlike those conventionally-engined examples, the LEAF boasts zero emission green credentials. In this case, a motor rather than engine does all the work.

LEAF uses 'plug-in' apparatus to charge its chassis-integrated battery pack, consisting of nearly fifty 'flat stacks' weighing 2.5kg each, to offer a driving range of approximately 160km.

Nissan has gone to great lengths ensuring customers of the LEAF will not be compromised for owning an electric vehicle. The company has developed information technology support to provide details such as charge status and charging station options.

In its test environment in Yokohama, Japan the company has arranged over 20 'quick charge' outlets. By 2010 Nissan presumes 100 quick charge stations and approximately 1000 regular (public use) options will be available in time for the LEAF’s release in2010.

But it's using resources at home where Nissan expects us to benefit from the convenience of owning an electric vehicle. Encouraging cheaper night-time charging of the LEAF, Nissan says an overnight charge (at least eight hours) will top-up the battery pack for the approximate (100km) range requirements of most road users.

By the time it arrives in Australia, Nissan's local outfit anticipates it will offer charging options at places like shopping centres and its own dealerships.

While the nickel and dime figures have yet to be worked out, Nissan says the price of the LEAF will be around the same cost of an equivalent IC-engined C-segment vehicle.

However, the quote does not include the price of the battery. Instead, Nissan suggests a lease deal will suffice for the power source, which has an anticipated life of approximately five years at near (at least 80 per cent) full capacity for the duration. But company president Carlos Ghosn (pictured) argues Nissan's electric vehicle will be cheaper to own than an equivalent internal combustion engined-car. The total cost of ownership, he says, will end up being cheaper than a petrol-engined car because the price of fuel outweighs the required electricity to charge the battery pack.

Look out for more details on the new Nissan LEAF, a drive of Nissan's latest EV and other news at the Carsales Network this week.

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