Nissan’s Electric-Powered Future

Nissan’s Electric-Powered Future

By Nick Kurczewski

MONACO -- Kazuhiro Doi can engineer you a boring electric car if you want it, but he’d prefer not to. As Nissan’s general manager and technology chief, Doi has the inside line on Nissan’s work in everything from electric vehicles to hybrids, and advanced safety features.

Under Doi’s leadership, Nissan developed a vehicle th at can detect when a driver is too intoxicated to drive. One of his latest projects is the Nissan Mixim, which was at the EVER Monaco ecological car show, held March 27-30.

Electric Cars Can Be Fun
“An electric vehicle is not a slow car,” Doi said. “We can change the image of an electric vehicle technically.” Doi said performance-wise, electric vehicles no longer need to be slow or look like the box they came out of.

Though still a one-of-a-kind concept car, the Mixim hints that Doi is well on his way to disproving these electric-car stereotypes. Seen for the first time at last year’s Frankfurt auto show, the Mixim is a futuristic-looking little hatchback, only 145 inches in long.

The three-passenger interior (the driver sits in the center) is a riot of crazy dials and strange details that make it perfect for anyone who always wanted their car’s cabin to resemble the cockpit of a "Star Wars" TIE Fighter.

Powered by what Nissan calls its Super Motor, separate electric motors and generators deliver power to the front and rear axles, thereby turning the Mixim into a four-wheel-drive electric-powered performance car.

Compact lithium-ion batteries, like those you’d find in a laptop or cell phone, provide the Mixim with power. Doi said Nissan is already “looking beyond lithium-ion,” despite the technology having yet to make its debut in a production vehicle.

As for the Mixim’s performance capability, Doi laughed when asked why Nissan chose to give its electric vehicle concept such a performance streak. “If a customer wants a slow electric vehicle, we can provide that,” Doi said. “But I don’t think he will.”

Technology Is the Easy Part
“2010 will be the boom of the EV,” Doi said, regarding the wave of electric vehicles preparing to come to markets around the world. However, he said he believes it’s up to governments to give the first electric vehicles a true chance to succeed.

“Initially, the cost of an EV is not affordable for the normal customer,” he said. He believes tax incentives or other measures to help ease the cost burden of electric vehicles will be essential. Doi made a point to mention there are currently no tax incentives for electric vehicles in Japan. “It’s being negotiated,” he said.

On the other hand, electric vehicles could find a happy home in London. EVs will be exempt from the city’s current £8 ($15.80) congestion charge. London’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, hopes to soon raise the charge to £25 for those vehicles with the highest levels of fuel consumption. Reuters reports Porsche is now suing the city of London over this increase.

“We have to find a balance,” said Doi, regarding the hurdles that face electric vehicles. “We can ask a customer to pay more only if our electric vehicle offers more.” If Doi has anything to say about it, boring performance likely won’t be part of the equation.•

Nick Kurczewski is a Paris-based correspondent working for AutoObserver.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.