Nissan leaf Leaf upcoming Nissan hatchback electric car will move closer to the real world, and far beyond the few boutique electric vehicles available to consumers today. Leaves will almost certainly be first in the next generation of pure electric cars from a large volume, a major producer of cars. It runs on batteries without any combustion engine or electric motor to supplement the electricity produced, and designed for specific drivers for everyday use. Leaves should be available to consumers in the United States before the end of 2010, according to Nissan.
Nissan leaf Slightly larger than the subcompact Nissan Versa familiar, the zero-emission cars Leaf is excited with room for five and the cargo space is good. Its 100-mile range beyond the everyday needs of all but the farthest trip passengers, and it's loaded with things that are meant to make ownership easier.
Nissan leaf Secret Leaves, and probably the closest thing to a breakthrough, which was hidden in the battery pack. Except widely praised beats hybrid Chevy Volt to the market, Leaf will be volume-produced car first with a lithium-ion batteries. Now familiar in laptops, mobile phones and other small devices, Li-ion batteries has long been considered not suitable for automotive applications. Nissan, though, they have developed for that purpose together with NEC since 1992 electronic
Nissan leaf Leaf battery is actually an array sheets laminated lithium-ion batteries made of manganese. Each rectangular sheet 12-by-10 inches, about half an inch thick, arranged in modules of heavy metal-encased total 395 pounds. Nissan says Li-ion battery has twice the storage capacity of any battery used in automotive applications today. They are in charge of and operate at a lower temperature than lead-acid or ni-cad battery, according to the engineer, and after five years of daily drain cycle, they remain 80 percent of its original capacity
Nissan leaf The value of Li-ion battery is quite simple: It gives Leaves various plug-160 kilometers per charge, or check under 100 miles, in a typical urban driving cycle. According to Transportation Department data, 98 percent of all drivers Americans drive less than 100 miles per day.
Nissan leaf Nissan is still a bit vague about the launch plans for the leaf, if it is called a leaf when it went on sale in the United States. The company says the car must be available to fleet customers in the second half of 2010, with general retail sales in key markets like California shortly thereafter. Nissan's next generation Li-ion battery, which is maybe twice the reach of the car, according to the company, could be ready by the year 2012, when the leaves should be available in dealerships nationwide
Nissan leaf Guessing by placing a retail price between $ 24,000 and $ 30,000. The battery alone currently costs $ 10,000 to produce, according to one Nissan engineer. At the retail level, the batteries may be leased to the buyer leaves, so the cost is not necessarily reflected in the price of the car.
Nissan leaf 
