SHANGHAI -- Nissan Motor Co., a late comer to the hybrid-vehicle race, won't follow rivals Honda and Toyota in mounting the gasoline-electric drivetrains on small cars.
Nissan instead plans to focus on all-electric zero-emission technology for its green compact cars, Senior Vice President Andy Palmer said yesterday at the Shanghai motor show.
"We think it's a more persuasive technology,"
Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are the global leaders in green-car technology thanks to the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight hybrids. Now Toyota is planning a hybrid car based on the Yaris, and Honda is working on a hybrid Fit. Both are small cars.
By contrast, Nissan is pursuing hybrids in big luxury sedans. Nissan has used a Toyota-sourced system in its own hybrid offerings, but that will change next year with the launch of an Infiniti hybrid with an in-house drivetrain.
Nissan's smaller electric vehicle is expected to reach the United States as early as 2010.
Both the electric and hybrid will be powered by lithium ion batteries made through a partnership with NEC of Japan. Nissan also has requested a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build an electric-vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tenn.
