Nissan Motor plans to begin selling specially-designed electric vehicles in the US market in 2010, according to a Japanese media report.
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The compact lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery developed by the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), a joint venture of Nissan and the NEC Corporation will be in production electric vehicles (EV) by 2010, Masahiko Tabe, Nissan Motor’s senior manager, advanced vehicle group, told just-auto at a demonstration of the Pivo 2 concept car’s technology in Paris last month.
The move reflects the automaker’s shift toward green vehicles and low-cost product offerings to drive growth, the Japanese business daily Nikkei reported, according to Dow Jones.
The strategy reflects Nissan’s attempt to position itself as the dominant electric-vehicle maker, conceding that its already lost too much ground to Toyota and other rivals in the development of hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, the reports said.
Nissan’s roll out of environmentally-friendly offerings will also include the launch of electric vehicles in Denmark and Israel in 2011, the report added.
Prices for the electric vehicles haven’t been set, but they are expected to retail for less than petrol-powered models because of tax and other concessions granted to green technology, the report said.
Nissan is also planning to unveil a vehicle targeted at the Indian market in 2011 that will retail for around US$2,500, according to the report.
