MUNICH, Germany — Japanese car maker Nissan plans to introduce its electric volume vehicle for 2010 production start. The OEM already offered a glimpse to the car's electric drive and internal IT systems. Surprise: The driving range is 160 km — not bad to start with.

The vehicle which will be offered in the body of Nissan's Tiida compact car features a motor (electric, of course) with 80 kW or 109 horsepowers. The engine offers a torque of 280 nM which is rather in line with what conventional engines with a similar horsepower figure bring to the road.

The vehicle gets its range of 160 km out of a 24 kWh lithium ion battery. The Nissan engineers have learned from earlier electric car designs in which the battery occupied large parts of the trunk or even displaced rear seat and put their battery below the floor. The laminated battery even helps to make the car's floor rather flat, reducing the air drag coefficient. The battery has been placed into a specific frame which as a side effect increases the vehicles rigidity and reduces vibrations.

The navigation system has been enhanced by some details that take in account the specific needs of an electrical vehicle, including computing and displaying the maximum range of the battery. It also displays charging stations within range and informs the driver if his/her destination is within range.

A timer function enables users to trigger the air con or battery charging process at a determined point in time. Thus, the air condition can cool down the vehicle as long as it is connected with the grid, avoiding excessive load to the battery when underway.

In addition, the vehicle is equipped with mobile communications devices that allow users to monitor the charging status when away from the car. If desired, the battery sends a text message as soon as the charging process is completed.

The e-car will be officially introduced to the public on August 2, the company said.

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