Here’s a big tidbit of news that is somewhat promising to you consumers out there. Nissan is currently producing and planning to release a completely electricity operated automobile by 2010. The auto will be powered completely by lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (24 cells; 4 batteries each), and will take about eight hours total for a complete recharge. The auto is speculated to have a daily mileage range of 100 miles and a top speed of 75 miles per hour.
The only drawback, however, is that it will be in the same design as the Scion XB, a squared off and boxy type body design. Nissan has stated that the car currently is being referred to as the “cube”, but the name certainly will change before release. Nissan is planning to release the electric autos in Japan and the U.S. with a market release for retail set in 2012 (As a side note I ask if they’ve ever heard of the Mayan end world prophecy. Think we still will be around long enough to see these cars actually bud into fruition?).
Masahiko Tabe, Nissan’s manager of advanced vehicle engineering commented on the new vehicles. “The first production vehicles will be for regional areas like California, and we will later expand the EV (Electric Vehicle) all over the world.” Tabe also commented on what type of vehicle consumers can expect to contain the EV technology.
“The technology will first appear in a small vehicle,” Tabe said.
The electric vehicle would be an ideal replacement for commuters. On average, a large number of drivers on the road only travel about 62 miles (100 kilometers) a day, and this means there is a very large potential for those drivers. The EV technology would cut out a large number of costs in the average consumer’s budget, although it would obviously create a more expensive power bill in the long run.
A main concern is that electric vehicles contain almost no moving parts that can malfunction and will run completely on electricity, so what will the auto industry do to make money off these vehicles? Not being biased with this comment, I’m sure they can come up with something shady enough to still make money.
