The new Nissan LEAF ™
Nissan has just introduced what is claimed to be the first affordable, zero-emission car in the world – the Nissan LEAF. Designed to work specially with a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the Nissan LEAF comes as a medium-size hatchback which is able to seat five adults comfortably. The power train lacks a tail pipe found in its internal-combustion engine (ICE) equipped vehicles, resulting in zero emissions of all manner of greenhouse gases. The Nissan LEAF’s regenerative braking system will work well with its innovative lithium-ion battery packs to provide a driving range of over 160km on a single charge.
Chevy Volt Less Than $30000
Chevrolet is banking big on the Volt, they are investing unprecedented amounts into their research while their company hemorrhages money each month. It could be a do-or-die move, but it looks like they have got the formula right. There is a great deal of worldwide interest in the environmentally friendly car, all they need to do is to get people to buy it.
Pricing estimates have ranged from $30,000 – $48,000, it goes without saying that they want to get it as close as possible to the lowest end of that price spectrum. They need to make it affordable for people that are hurting from gas prices and those that can afford to drop $48,000 on a car might not be hurting enough. At $30,000, though, there is going to be a lot more interest in the marketplace.
As always with hybrid technology, the kicker is the battery system. Batteries will need to get cheaper in order to bring an affordable Chevrolet Volt to market. Prices should drop, given the massive demand for hybrid systems now, whether they do or not, however, remains to be seen.