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Nissan wants to offer you an electric car by 2010

Posted at 2:21 PM on 13 May 2008

Nissan wants to bring electric cars to the U.S. and Japan by 2010 and to the world by 2012, the automaker announced Tuesday. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in 2005 called gas-electric hybrids "niche products," but he's changed his tune, declaring that his company is determined to demonstrate "zero-emission-vehicle leadership." While General Motors and Toyota also have plans to bring electric vehicles to market, Nissan is the first to say it will mass-produce affordable, all-electric cars on a global scale. "We are not interested in some 'Stars Wars' prototype," says Ghosn, "but in really bringing a mass market product that everybody can buy."

source: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal (access ain't free)
see also, in Gristmill: Nissan aims to help Israel build a national electric-car infrastructure

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Comments: (3 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

Still waiting...

First decent EV to hit the states, I can assure anyone my car will be traded in ASAP.

Does it have to take this long, will I really have to pay 10 bucks a gallon while waiting?

by rwelborn at 7:26 AM on 14 May 2008

Confusion

Neither Toyota nor GM are working on electric cars. They are working on PHEVs. There is a difference between a Plug-in Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (PHEV) and an electric vehicle (EV), and that difference is an internal combustion engine. If you have one, you're not an EV, and you need a crank-case full of oil and a tank full of gas.

I'm not advocating for one over the other, but I do wish the media could keep their definitions straight.

Bikes can save us!!

by GoodCheer at 11:26 AM on 14 May 2008

Other manufacturers

For those interested, other major auto manufacturers who are coming out with EVs include

Renault (search for "Project Better Place")
Mitsubishi (MiEV)
Subaru (R1e)

And then there are the new companies:

Tesla
Aptera
GreenVehicles

And a bunch of others that are probably further from getting rubber onto the road.

Bikes can save us!!

by GoodCheer at 11:48 AM on 14 May 2008

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