Nissan Plans All-Electric Car for 2010
Speaking at a press conference in Portugal last week, Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan,
announced bold plans to introduce a battery-powered car for the mainstream American automobile market by 2010 and a complete range of affordable electric vehicles for global launch by 2012. This announcement follows on the heels of another just-unveiled initiative by Renault-Nissan, in partnership with the Silicon Valley venture Project Better Place, to introduce all-electric cars and a network of charging points throughout Denmark and Israel by 2011. Through such ambitious endeavors, Ghosn is clearly positioning Renault-Nissan to corner the market in “affordable zero-emission vehicles”. Although the company is investing in the production of both parallel and plug-in hybrids as well as hydrogen-powered automobiles, it clearly favors the all-electric approach for large-scale retail markets; Nissan plans to offer its first electric model to the public for around $25,000. According to Ghosn, except for the batteries, the technology is already in place for such a democratic endeavor. But with rapid improvements being made in lithium-ion batteries and massive investment from Nissan as well as other companies, practical and affordable battery technology is simply a matter of time.
Posted
on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 9:17 am | Tagged in Energy Efficiency, Renewables, Technology, Transportation | posted by Bill
