Entries Tagged 'electric vehicle' ↓

Nissan will begin delivering the zero-emission Leaf at the end of the year and plans to begin mass production in 2012, planning for a capacity of 500,000 cars in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.A. Nissan is going to be the only relevant player in this game. Note the use of teh word relevant, because as Mitsubishi is planning a similar vehicle, they are not preparing for the level of production that Nissan is.

“Let’s be serious. It’s not because someone is coming with a prototype and one car that this is competition. The question is how much capacity are you building.” one Nissan exec said about the situation.

Nissan is already reporting 56,000 orders for the vehicle in the United States, and they plan to start taking orders soon in Japan and Europe. The French government has shown interest in 100,000 of the vehicles so far.

Nissan predicts that in ten years, 10% of the global auto-market will be fully-electric. Currently, there are 3,000 electric vehicles on U.S. roads out of a total of 200 million vehicles.

As it stands now, Nissan is essentially a non-player in the hybrid and eco-conscious markets, having only one borrowed hybrid drivetrain from the Toyota Camry hybrid for its Altima sedan. But Carlos Ghosn has a tangible plan and product planned to help change the face of Nissan across the global markets – especially in the U.S. where having eco-alternatives is essentially a requirement for success.

“What I am sure is that in 2011, I am going to be the only one on the market,” Ghosn said, regarding a pure EV with mass production capability.

“Frankly, I mean so far there is no competition,” Ghosn told a group of reporters at the Geneva Auto Show Wednesday. “Let’s be serious. It’s not because someone is coming with a prototype and one car that this is competition. The question is how much capacity are you building.”

Ghosn said Nissan will become the only major player to be responding to demand on any scale, with Mitsubishi’s figures being much smaller. Ghosn also cited that only 3,000 or so of the 200,000 million cars currently on the road in the U.S. are electric vehicles, and he believes that will change to 10 percent, globally, in 10 years.

Nissan’s Leaf, its first in-house electric vehicle of any kind, will begin production at the end of 2010, and should enter large-scale mass production by 2012. Nissan has planned capacity of 500,000 annual units of its Leaf between the U.S. market, Europe and Japan. Ghosn said that it has already accumulated 56,000 orders in the U.S. alone – with public ordering to begin in Europe and Japan soon.

In Europe, the French government has already ordered 100,000 battery-powered cars, and the start-up Better Place has ordered another 100,000 to be delivered over several years. Better Place plans to allow users to swap in freshly charged batteries at a network of stations in Israel and Denmark.

“The numbers are big,” Ghosn said. Ghosn also went on to explain that Nissan won’t make further investment into additional capacity for Leaf production until it can gauge market reaction. Ghosn also suggested that some of the otherwise unsustainable high-cost jobs in Europe may be savable with Leaf production.

Ghosn also briefly answered questions regarding the possibility that the automaker may be in talks with other automakers, namely Daimler, in regards to possible platform and technology sharing, but stopped short of confirming the talks. “The name of the game is scale and co-investment and sharing technologies. There are a lot of talks and we don’t communicate before we reach agreement because sometimes these talks collapse,” said Ghosn.

GM has taken a long time to bring a strong hybrid offering to market, and recently chairman Bob Lutz made it clear that the company’s decision to pursue hybrid cars is bittersweet. The 2010 Chevy Volt is a popular topic, made obvious by the amount of buzz streaming across the Internet and its already extensive waiting lists of orders.

With all of the positive publicity why then is Lutz down on hybrids? He says that GM loses money on many of its hybrids and will continue to do so in the intermediate future. Marring the future of hybrids further he also predicted that they will own a small piece of the overall car market, at 10% or less over the next 10 years!

That’s a cynical viewpoint, but perhaps based on some realistic experience. Lutz later said “for the next 10 years, that’s the way we see it! That would would be over 1.2 million units per year; at today’s price premium for plug-ins, that’s even an optimistic estimate, I think,” according to GM-Volt.

He also clarified later that he was referencing PHEV hybrids like the 2010 Chevy Volt and all electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF. It seems that government requirements are driving a lot of GM’s research in hybrid vehicles, which wouldn’t be surprising considering how much money the company accepted in loans from the United States republic.

GM may also be benefiting from Toyota’s recent battle with defective gas petals which created mass recalls and destroyed part of its bubble of perfection. Where consumers once considered Toyota the only viable source of hybrid cars with its Prius model, they now may be considering competitors more seriously.

Exact pricing on the Chevy Volt isn’t available yet but it’s expected to be around $40,000 with about $7,000 in tax credits. They will likely be in production by the end of November 2010 but most of those will be snapped up quickly so realistically an average consumer may not have a chance to get one until 2012.

Source : taintedgreen.com

Nissan North America’s top official says the company’s new electric vehicle doesn’t have a range problem. Carlos Tavaresdefended Franklin-based Nissan’s focus on fully electric cars to business leaders Tuesday morning.

Tavares says more than 90% of U.S. drivers commute less than 100 miles a day and three in four households have more than one car. Nissan’s executive vice president for the Americas says 60% of homes also have a garage or carport for overnight charging.

“We think all of that shows that LEAF, with its 100 mile range, will be an ideal commuter car for a majority of Americans.”

Nissan has stayed out of the gas/electric hybrid market, for the most part. Tavares says that’s because the future of cars is in no-emission vehicles, not low emissions. To help kick-start electric vehicle sales to a wider market, Tavares asks business owners to install charging stations at their workplaces.

Nissan plans to begin taking orders of its upcoming Leaf electric vehicle. By the time the first car is ready to be delivered to a paying customer in the fall, the Japanese automaker expects to have taken some 20,000 initial reservations – well over the 5,000 Leafs Nissan has committed to lease in 2010. In other words, if you really want one, you may want to consider getting your order in early.

The LEAF launches in select markets, including Nashville, December of next year. Nissan will produce the electric vehicles and their batteries in Japan at first, then expand production to Smyrna in 2012. Construction at Nissan’s Smyrna plant is expected to start in January.

* First mass-produced vehicle to claim more than 100 mpg composite fuel economy
* Tentative EPA methodology results show 25 kilowatt hours/100 miles electrical efficiency in city cycle
* Plugging in daily is key to high-mileage performance

WARREN, Mich. – The Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle is expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, based on development testing using a draft EPA federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles.

The Volt, which is scheduled to start production in late 2010 as a 2011 model, is expected to travel up to 40 miles on electricity from a single battery charge and be able to extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with its flex fuel-powered engine-generator.

“From the data we’ve seen, many Chevy Volt drivers may be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” said GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson. “EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare the fuel efficiency of vehicles. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a composite triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer.”

According to U.S. Department of Transportation data, nearly eight of 10 Americans commute fewer than 40 miles a day http://tinyurl.com/U-S-DOTStudy .

“The key to high-mileage performance is for a Volt driver to plug into the electric grid at least once each day,” Henderson said.

Volt drivers’ actual gas-free mileage will vary depending on how far they travel and other factors, such as how much cargo or how many passengers they carry and how much the air conditioner or other accessories are used. Based on the results of unofficial development testing of pre-production prototypes, the Volt has achieved 40 miles of electric-only, petroleum-free driving in both EPA city and highway test cycles.

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French car maker Renault SA (RNO.FR) and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) Monday said they plan to build two factories in the U.K. and Portugal to produce lithium-ion batteries for future models of electric vehicles.

The announcement is in line with the stated ambition of the alliance to become the leading volume producer of zero-emission vehicles in the next decade. Nissan will start offering electric vehicles in the U.S. and Japan in 2011 and the alliance plans to start mass-marketing electrical vehicles in 2011.

Electric vehicle production is in its infancy at present, but the alliance reckons that by 2020 electric vehicles will represent between 10% and 15% of the overall European market, or about one million vehicles.

The U.K. plant will be located at Sunderland, north-east England, where Nissan already has a vehicle assembly plant. A decision on the location of the Portuguese facility is pending.

The alliance is investing EUR250 million in the Portuguese plant, which will create 200 jobs, according to a statement. No figure for the Sunderland investment was given, but the project will create up to 350 jobs directly and hundreds more at upstream suppliers, according to a Nissan press release.

It quoted U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown as saying that Sunderland, “could now be a strong contender to produce electric vehicles for Nissan in Europe, and we will continue to work with Nissan to ensure this happens.”

The Renault-Nissan alliance is negotiating grants and loan guarantees totalling EUR200 million from the U.K. government to help finance the project.

Each plant will produce 60,000 batteries annually.

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My Iris reported that TATA Motors has plans to use its Nano platform to build electric and hybrid cars and to produce more high end models.

TATA Group said TATA Motors should target exports of the car in the developing countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia and Russia where the growth rate is over 10%.

The introduction of Nano was compared to that of the Ford Model T, the car that completely revolutionized the automobile industry. Nano is also expected to create a new distinct category in the auto industry – the People’s car.

A true Indian car, Nano has 97% local content. Before Nano, Maruti 800 was the cheapest car in the Indian market priced at around INR 2 million.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s electric vehicle is twice as expensive as popular hybrid cars by rivals Toyota and Honda, but Japan’s No. 4 automaker said Friday the i-MiEV will help it survive increasingly intense global competition.

“With the electric vehicle, we will challenge global players,” said Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko at a news conference where the company rolled out the new model.

The i-MiEV is powered solely by electricity, and can be recharged from a regular home socket. The four-seater vehicle can run up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) after charging seven hours at 200 volts.

“It is a zero-emission vehicle. It does not rely on oil, which is different from hybrid cars,” Masuko said. A hybrid car switches between a gas engine and electric motor to boost mileage.

The price tag is also different. Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV costs 4.59 million yen ($47,560), more than twice as much as Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Prius hybrid vehicle, which is just over 2 million yen, or Honda Motor Co.’s Insight, which starts at 1.89 million yen, the cheapest hybrid on the market.

Masuko acknowledged the high price is a major hurdle to encouraging people to buy the i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi innovative electric vehicle. (The initial “i” doesn’t have any particular meaning, the company says.)

“This is not the price that ordinary people can easily buy. But as we increase our production, we aim to cut the price below 2 million yen,” he said without elaborating further.

Masuko noted i-MiEV buyers can receive hefty subsidies and pay no tax under a government program promoting the use of ecological vehicles. With the help of government subsidies, the i-MiEV costs 3.209 million yen, down 43 percent from the original price. The vehicle is also tax-free for three years.

The subsidy program for electric vehicles runs from April to March next year. But an official at the trade ministry said the government plans to extend the program.

Initially, Mitsubishi aims to sell 1,400 units of the i-MiEV to local governments and companies during the current business year through March 2010. Sales to individual consumers in Japan will begin next April.

Masuko said the company had spent more than 40 years to develop the i-MiEV, but declined to say how much the company had invested in its development.

Various automakers are racing to develop electric cars amid rising oil prices and concerns about global warming.

Malaysia’s national car maker Proton and Detroit Electric, a Netherlands-based company plan to make electric cars by early next year. U.S.-based Tesla Motors has a prototype electric car that is scheduled to be produced by 2011.

Toyota said it plans to sell electric vehicles in the U.S. by 2012, while Nissan Motor Co. said it will market electric vehicles in Japan and the U.S. after April 2010.

The company aims to sell 250 units abroad, mainly in Britain and other European countries, in the current financial year. Mitsubishi also plans to sell the i-MiEV in China and the United States, but Masuko gave no details.

Globally, Mitsubishi hopes to sell 15,000 units for the year through March 2012.

But the company can only make a profit on the i-MiEV if it produces 30,000 units per year, Masuko said.

“We want to reach that level as early as possible,” he said without giving further details.

He added that the company is considering making a commercial electric vehicle.

“We are looking ahead. We look at the global auto market of 10 or 20 years later from now,” Masuko said. “We are in the midst of global auto competition, and we should not be left behind.”

Mitsubishi Motors’ share price has jumped recently on hopes for the new car. On Friday, it rose 2.3 percent to close at 175 yen after surging almost 12 percent Thursday.

TOKYO–Nissan Motors wants a bold design for its upcoming electric vehicle–one that doesn’t make it look like a hybrid.

The goal is a look that screams green but stands apart from the wedge-shaped silhouette that has come to signify environmentally friendly driving in the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight hybrids.

“We need some kind of difference so that when people see our car, they will realize this is an EV, not a hybrid,” Nissan chief designer Shiro Nakamura told Automotive News.

Nissan has not released pictures of the car, which is scheduled to go on sale next year. But its new styling cues include:

* No grille, to underscore the electric drivetrain
* A low hood enabled by the lack of an engine
* A visible recharging plug at the nose of the car
* A profile that is flowing, instead of triangular

A concept version of the EV will be unveiled in August and will be a front-wheel-drive, five-seat hatchback, Nakamura said.

The working design has a drag coefficient of 0.30, he said. The third-generation Prius has 0.25 and the Insight 0.28. Nakamura expects to eke out further improvements in drag by tweaking the design and adding underbody fittings to smooth air flow.

In pursuing a design that stands out, Nakamura is taking a page from Toyota–which gambled on the Prius’ wedge shape and scored a hit when the car became the benchmark for green styling.

Because EVs lack a bulky engine and gasoline tank, they open up new design possibilities. Nakamura said he couldn’t maximize such flexibility because the EV uses an existing platform. He wouldn’t be specific about the platform, but said the car will be comparable in size to the Cube or Versa.

“It is not designed completely from scratch,” Nakamura said. “We will go step by step. Later on we will bring more advanced, tires-extreme designs. We want to be economical.”

Source:Automotive News