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Nissan electric car plans


Nissan Australia CEO Dan Thompson says the company is still looking at its sales and distribution plans for an electric vehicle but the car will be within reach price-wise.

Thompson says consumers will have the ability to buy a car in 2012 and plug it in at home, but the uptake of an electric vehicle will depend on incentives and education.

"It's a whole new world. I think it will take a lot of education from the industry, the government, all of us, to get consumers over probably a bit of a hurdle as to not having to stop into a service station," he says.

Nissan believes the make-up of the electric vehicle distribution network and its customer base will depend on how quickly the technology takes off.

"The initial buyers may be skewed towards governments and fleets with the infrastructure - but there's nothing to keep a member of the public walking into a Nissan dealer and buying one.

"As long as the technology matches their driving requirements, for a fixed daily commute within the 150km, you can plug in at home each night," he says.

The work done by Mitsubishi has helped pave the way for more electric vehicles from other brands but Mr Thompson believes Australian governments need to be a bit more proactive - "the government support is critical."

"But Mitsubishi having a go at the i MiEV early with ADRs will raise the visibility and show that this technology is coming really soon," he says.

"I don't think the government understands how quickly this technology will be readily available, if they don't provide some education and incentives up front the uptake will be much slower than in some of the other markets."

Nissan's small electric car will use lithium-ion batteries - sourced from a joint venture with NEC - and is expected to have a 160km range.

"That covers 85-90 per cent of everyday driving for everyday Australians, so there's a lot of debate about how much infrastructure is actually needed," he says.

The company has shown several electric vehicle concepts, including the Pivo2, the Nuvu, the Mixim and the Cube-based EV test vehicle, but expect to see a production-ready vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show later this year.