There are many reasons why Nissan is betting on electric cars. Nissan has the technology to use it in the US market which means it is available for Renault. You get two technologies in the same car. In a certain way because you are still emitting 20-30 percent less there is no incentive from governments to support. Electric car is completely different because this is a zero emission car, completely independent of oil. One set of technology, you don’t need a combustion engine, you just have a motor and an inverter. It’s a more simple car to make. The only problem is that the electric car doesn’t have scale. So for the time to build 1-2 million electric cars you’re going to be suffering because you don’t have the scale that the combustion engine has.
All of this, political dependence on oil, price of oil, level of emission and I’m talking without the crisis here. I’m talking just trends. If you have a political crisis making oil a threat, if you have an environmental crisis like all of a sudden you have an inundation somewhere or you have a turbulence in the climate and all of a sudden you have a public opinion starting to react against government because they are not taking enough measures to protect against emission you’re going to see the skyrocketing of technologies which are eliminating emission completely. All of this makes us really believers, that electric is one of the solutions. Not the only solution but just one, you have hydrogen, you have fuel cell car and what helps us is the fact that the reaction of the Governments is very positive. US, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Israeli, Danish governments have all given incentives for the consumer to buy zero emission cars.
Source: EV World
Popularity: 48% [?]
Why is Nissan launching a diesel engine for its European Murano crossover? To answer that, diesel engines are as important in the European car market as gas engines. The Murano diesel uses a 2.5-liter inline-four that produces 187 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. The engine benefits from a series of upgrades, including a new direct injection system which operates at 2,000 bar, up from 1,800 bar, a redesigned cylinder head with parallel port and a new variable nozzle turbo with electric control rather than the previous hydraulic system.
The exterior of the Nissan Murano combines the power and torque to all four wheels through a six-speed transmission. Nissan has yet to announce fuel consumption and emissions numbers, but expect such an announcement closer to the diesel Murono’s September launch date. This diesel option will not be available for North American buyers.
Source: Auto Tribute
Popularity: 48% [?]
New Nissan Micra, or March in some markets, will launch in Thailand at the Bangkok Auto Show on March 26, barely a month after the supermini world debut at Geneva. Nissan Motor Thailand also announced that production has started and the March will be the first model offered for sale under Thailand’s eco-car program, created to encourage the development of energy-efficient vehicles.
Designed as a “world car” for both mature and emerging markets, the Micra sits on a new platform and will come with a new 78 bhp/108 Nm 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder engine. Dealers have opened their order books, and delivery will start in a few weeks for the five-speed manual variant. Those who opt for the CVT will have to wait till June. Local prices range from 375,000 baht to 537,000 baht. Thailand will join China, India and Mexico as manufacturing hubs for the Micra, and should be the source for Singapore bound cars. NMT will export the March to countries in the Asian and Oceania markets, according to Toshiyuki Shiga, COO of Nissan Motor Co.
Source: Cars Sigapore
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Nissan Leaf, packed with its lithium-ion battery, will be the first mass-produced, all electric plug-in car to come to the market when it goes on sale in selected markets this fall. Is the Leaf, with its 100-mile range, the forerunner of an all-electric fleet? Or are there limits to lithium-ion, or Li-ion, battery technology in terms of the ratio of weight and size to range and power?
Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning, said by phone from Tennessee, that all-electric power trains have a strong future. “We believe the 100-mile range is a sweet spot,” he said, noting the key was to find the balance between cost, size and weight of the battery pack and the range. The Leaf will be available in the Northeast in the first or second quarter of next year. However, M. Stanley Whittingham, who first proposed the lithium-ion battery while working at Exxon in the 1970s, said he thought there were limits to all-electric power trains. “Basically, you’re paying X dollars for the car and Y dollars for the range,” he said from his office at the State University of New York, Binghamton, where he is a professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering, and director of the university’s Institute for Materials Research. Perry said hybrid technology would not solve problems with carbon emissions, noting that even with electricity produced from coal, an all-electric vehicle was more energy efficient. The vast majority of current hybrid electric vehicles use nickel metal hydride batteries. But lithium-ion batteries, are replacing them as they offer longer life, higher energy density and less weight. Indeed, lithium-ion battery technology has proved a boon to cell phones, laptops as well as electric vehicles because of its energy-to-weight ratio. Perry said the manganese lithium-ion battery pack in the Leaf was less susceptible to heat and had an expected life of 10 years and fast charging would only reduce its capacity to around 75 percent.
Source: ProJo.com
Popularity: 2% [?]
