2011 Nissan EV Review

Nissan is a front runner in electric vehicle technology. In the coming years they plan on having numerous electric vehicles on the market to compliment their traditional gasoline powered vehicles and the hybrid models that they offer. Nissan recently announced that they plan to introduce their first electric vehicle in the United States by the fall of 2010 as a 2011 model. If this all hold true, Nissan will be the first major automaker to introduce a mass produced electric vehicle in the states.

The Nissan EV as it is called now since Nissan has yet to officially name it, will be powered by electric motors that run off of the battery packs contained within the vehicle. Its range is estimated to be around 100 miles on a single charge.

Though technically the Nissan EV does not use a single drop in motion, they do calculate a theoretical miles per gallon for electric vehicles. The miles per gallon is calculated by estimated how much fuel would be used in the production of the electricity that is required to charge the vehicle. Looking at the calculations, the Nissan EV returns an astounding 367 miles per gallon equivalent.

But how does it drive? Right now the Nissan EV is in development stages. The body is from a Nissan Cube, not the body of the production vehicle. However, the power train in the prototype should be nearly identical to the production powertrain. According to several reviews, the Nissan EV drives in many ways the same as a traditional gasoline powered vehicle. The EV is silent or near silent in operation, provides adequate acceleration to satisfy most drivers and instant thrust due to the electric motor output at low rpm.

The Nissan EV will have the capability of being charged from a standard household outlet, or street side through a charging structure which Nissan is currently working on with several cities across the nation. Charging could be accomplished in as little as 20 minutes from the charging structures, or about 4 to 6 hours from your house.

A full charge brings a range of 100 miles, easily capable of driving most people to and from work on a given day.

The Nissan EV is expected to be priced around $25,000 after incentives and will hold 5 passengers in a sedan body style and be about the size of the current Nissan Sentra.

Look for the Nissan EV to reach production and showrooms in late fall of 2010.