Archive for the ‘2012’ Category

Listen up, early adopters and EV fans. If you're one of the first 5,000 buyers of the 2012 Nissan LEAF that was just announced this week, it looks like you'll get a home-based charger as part of the deal.

Arizona-based eTec has been selected for a $99.8 million grant and will exclusively supply the first Nissan LEAF EV buyers with chargers.

eTec said that it will be the "largest deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure in U.S. history."

The tech company intends to cover Corvallis, Eugene, Portland, and Salem, Oregon; Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; San Diego, California;...

Nissan is getting ready to release its first electric vehicle and to help butter up potential customers the automaker has today revealed images and details of the new car, which has been dubbed the ‘LEAF’. At the opening ceremony of Nissan’s new global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan today, Nissan took the covers off the LEAF for the first time and confirmed a late 2010 launch date for Japan, the U.S. and Europe.

Designed specifically for a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the LEAF is a mid-size hatchback that comfortably seats five adults and has a range of more than 100mi to satisfy real-world consumer requirements.

Key...

Nissan may have the most aggressive plans of any major automaker to produce fully electric cars. The company has said it expects to sell up to 100,000 EVs globally by 2012, using lithium-ion cells from its joint venture with electronics powerhouse NEC Corp.

While Nissan provided us with a first drive of the 2012 Nissan EV powertrain, it has released no details of the electric car itself. Now, Autocar magazine says the car will be a midsize five-door hatchback, with dedicated styling not used for any other Nissan.

The design is likely to be unveiled at either the Frankfurt Motor Show in September or the Tokyo Motor Show in October. But ...