Japanese car maker Nissan Motors launched the fully electric and affordable electric car – “Leaf”. The car is aptly named ‘Leaf’ as it is a fully electric powered car with zero emission. “Nissan LEAF is a tremendous accomplishment - one in which all Nissan employees can take great pride,” said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. “We have been working tirelessly to make this day a reality - the unveiling of a real-world car that has zero - not simply reduced - emissions. It’s the first step in what is sure to be an exciting journey - for people all over the world, for Nissan and for the industry.”
The car is powered by laminated Lithium ion batteries and electric motor for propulsion. It delivers a torque of 280nm of torque which is somewhat comparable to a compact turbo diesel engine. Thus, the customers can expect some decent performance and not totally “electric.”
“From the beginning, we did not want to make the car very strange, because one of the perceptions of the EV [is that] people think that EVs are toys, or cheap… that you cannot drive high-speed, that EV means ‘not real car.’ But the car we have is a real car – you can drive it at 140 kilometers, you can sit four or five passengers comfortably,” said Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s senior vice president and Chief Creative Officer.
One of the most amazing features is that the car has no tail pipe! Of course, this is because the car is “absolutely zero emission” model! The Nissan Leaf will be shown at all the major auto shows around the world and will be launched in Japan, Europe and United States by late 2010. Its foray in India is still unknown.
