Press Release

Nissan Announces 1998 Introduction for New Electric Vehicle

10/16/96

Nissan Announces New Electric Vehicle For 1998

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 14 -- Nissan will introduce an
all-new electric vehicle to the California market in early 1998, it
was announced today at the EVS-13 (Electric Vehicle Symposium) in
Osaka, Japan.

The new Nissan EV (electric vehicle) will be a four-passenger
compact-van built on an all-new platform that is designed to
accommodate either a gasoline engine or an electric motor. The design
of the new model will be revealed at a later date closer to its public
introduction. 

The new Nissan EV will be powered by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries
which were jointly developed by Nissan and Sony Corporation. These
batteries, now in common use in computers, video cameras and other
consumer products, achieve the high level of 100 watt-hours per
kilogram as adopted for EV use, about three times the energy density
of conventional lead acid batteries and more than one and one-half
times that of nickel-metal hydride batteries. In addition, the
batteries have an exceptionally long life of approximately 1,200
charge/discharge cycles. 

The battery charger will use the inductive charging system. The
vehicle will have a permanent magnet synchronous motor and a new
32-bit high-speed RISC (reduced instruction set computing) motor
controller processor. The motor features a compact design; yet it
generates maximum power of 62 kilowatts, and maximum torque of 17
kilogram-meters. The battery, powertrain and control system are the
same as those used in the Prairie Joy EV, which will be available in
the Japan market in spring 1997. 

In terms of performance, the vehicle will have a driving range of more
than 120 miles and acceleration performance similar to that of
gasoline- powered vehicles. 

Under the terms of a memorandum of agreement with the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) concluded in March, Nissan will provide a
demonstration fleet of 30 of the EVs to a select number of California
fleet users in 1998. An additional 90 demonstration units will be
available to fleet users in 1999 and 2000, with retail sales beginning
shortly thereafter. 

Under the agreement with CARB, Nissan will actively maintain the
demonstration fleet for at least three years and will begin driving
tests in the United States next summer. 

Nissan is committed to pursuing the development of breakthrough
technologies for electric vehicles and bringing about the age of the
electric vehicle market.

In North America, Nissan's operations include styling, engineering,
manufacturing, sales, consumer and corporate finance, and industrial
and textile equipment. Nissan in North America employs more than
20,000 people in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and generates
nearly 75,000 jobs through more than 1,500 Nissan and Infiniti
dealerships across the continent.