Nissan's next EV

[MikeBoxwell]

Nissan is working on several other EV projects. One that they've been keeping very quiet about is a small city car, similar in size to the Fiat 500. It's main markets will be Japan and Europe, although no doubt some will sneak their way across the Pacific...

The car will be a similar size and have a similar wheelbase to the Nissan Mixim EV that the company showed as a concept vehicle back in 2007. Instead of being a coupe, however, the new car will be a two door, four seat hatchback. Top speed is 75mph, the car has a range of 80 miles. 0-60 takes 16 seconds.

The new car is due out in 2012.

 

[adric22]

Top speed is 75mph, the car has a range of 80 miles. 0-60 takes 16 seconds.

You know, if the price were right, I'd be perfectly happy with those specifications. 16 seconds sounds bad, but from my experience with other electric vehicles, in the lower speed ranges (such as under 30 mph) the car probably accelerates just like any other car. It isn't until you get to the higher speeds that it starts to get sluggish. Based on those acceleration specs, I'd be willing to bet that top speed of 75mph is probably only attainable when going down hill with the wind to your back. So you'd want to stay in the slow lane on the highway.

 

[MikeBoxwell]

0-60 in 16 seconds is nothing great, but actually that's not bad. If you accelerate away from the 'Traffic Light Indi 500' and hit 60mph in sixteen seconds, the chances are that you'll be the fastest driver - unless the guy next to you is a guy in his early 20s, in which case you'll need a Tesla! :lol: In Europe, most small city cars have similar or worse 0-60 times and that is probably Nissan's biggest market for this sort of EV.

 

[Bicster]

In the US we don't have taxes on displacement or horsepower, and I suspect the vast majority of cars can manage 60mph in under 10 seconds. Mine gets there in less than six, but I don't drive it that way very often.

There's a gas guzzler tax, but it's very little and not many cars are subjected to it. I paid a gas guzzler tax on my E36 BMW M3 (I averaged 17mpg overall), which I think was about $800. My current vehicle gets worse overall mileage, but no gas guzzler tax.

I wouldn't consider buying a car that took more than 10-11 seconds to get to 60. I don't think it would be safe for merging onto freeways.