Nissan Motor Co. of Japan has acquired the approval by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for its X-TRAIL FCV, a high-pressure hydrogen-powered vehicle (FCV). The company will soon start driving tests on public roads in Japan.

The X-TRAIL FCV is a high-efficiency, hybrid fuel cell vehicle fitted with a compact, high-performance lithium-ion battery pack that has already been commercialized on Nissan's HYPERMINI electric vehicle and other alternative fuel vehicles. Nissan plans to make further improvements to this base vehicle and will start limited marketing of FCVs in 2003, two years ahead of its original plan.

Nissan's FCV development began in 1999, when the company initiated driving tests of a methanol reformer-equipped FCV, the R'NESSA FCV. Nissan subsequently launched a five-year joint R&D project with Renault in 2001 in which the two partners plan to invest 85 billion yen (approx. U.S.$690 million). Nissan is also taking part in the California Fuel Cell Partnership and has been conducting public road tests of the X-TERRA FCV since April 2001, using a base facility near Sacramento, California, in the United States. As one of the activities to promote FCVs in the company's home country, Nissan is participating in the Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC Project) under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

This development is in line with the "Nissan Green Program 2005," a mid-term environmental action plan announced in January 2002, outlining the company's comprehensive efforts on environmental protection, encompassing product, technology development and recycling strategies.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/STORY/0,1299,SI9-CH177-LO3-TI707-CI550-IFY-MC109,00.html

Posted: 2003/01/18 07:33:41 AM
Japanese version

TAG Eco-product/Business , Energy , Global warming , Manufacturing industry , Transportation