Nissan to sell electric vehicles in China from 2012
Nov 19, 2008 Auto Tech
EVs from China
Bloomberg reports that Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, intends to begin offering electric cars in China by 2012 as the country seeks to boost sales of fuel- efficient vehicles to cut pollution and oil usage.
China has cut taxes on fuel-efficient vehicles to boost sales of less-polluting cars and also plans to support local automakers’ research into alternative-energy vehicles. Chinese manufacturers have displayed electric vehicles at this year’s Paris Motor Show and one of them, BYD has even had renowned investor Warren Buffet buying its shares! Still, Chinese drivers have shunned hybrid vehicles so far, with Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius, the bestselling model in China, racking up only 616 sales nationwide in the first nine months of the year.
Contrast this with India where government duties caused the Honda Civic Hybrid to be priced almost twice its petrol model till recently and probably dissuading Toyota from offering the Prius. Although Bangalore based Reva is the largest selling EV in UK, its design has been almost unchanged for more than a decade, with lead acid batteries (instead of more advanced nickel hydride or lithium ion ones) and questionale safety (which makes it sell the vehicle as a quadbike instead of a car, to get around safety regulations).
Tags: China, electric cars, Nissan
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