Nissan Motor Co. showed off an electric car this week that could compete with local carmaker Tesla Motors’ proposed sedan.
Though Nissan’s Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have focused on hybrid cars with gasoline motors combined with electric power, Nissan hopes to catch up to them and jump ahead with this new prototype.
This car, called EV-11 for now, will be able to drive about 150 miles on a battery charge, and it will use some technology to add to the battery charge when the driver uses the brakes.
An onboard computer will show a map of places the car can reach on its remaining battery charge to help keep drivers from being stranded.
San Carlos-based Tesla hopes to bring its own electric sedan, called the Model S, to market in the United States late in 2011. Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is working with German car giant Daimler on battery technology and other electric car improvements, and Daimler has invested in Tesla. Daimler aims to start selling electric versions of its own popular tiny two-seater Smart cars, and it has been testing them in London.
Other carmakers, like General Motors, are also working on electric cars for the mass market.
Nissan has said it hopes to start selling this car in the United States and Japan by next year. It has kept the final appearance of the car under wraps, choosing instead to demonstrate the drive technology in the body of an existing Tilda hatchback sedan.
The new shape of the car will be shown in Japan later this summer.
Tesla has so far been selling only its high-end electric sportscar, the Roadster, which costs about $109,000 and is not aimed at the average driver. The Model S sedan will be pitched to people as an everyday car.
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