Zero-emission vehicles: Nissan aims to take the lead

The Wall Street Journal reports: "In an interview (...) mr. Ghosn said not all the electric cars Nissan manufactures will be purely electric or emission free."

Nissan will opt for the hybrid route, but aims to phase out the combustion engine (a.k.a. 'range extender') as soon as possible.

"Outfitting vehicles with gas-powered range extenders falls short of that goal (getting zero-emission vehicles on the roads, MiM), but a hybrid compromise might help make Nissan's vehicles more appealing to consumers, who likely will be concerned about the limited range of a purely electric car."

Our take: Nissan focuses on the post-hybrid era, trying to avoid attracting too much attention to their latish appearance at the hybrid party. Let's see if they manage to catch up in the next few years.

Read the article here.