Nissan Leases Fuel Cell Vehicles to Kanagawa and Yokohama

Nissan Motor Co. of Japan on April 7, 2004 delivered one "X-TRAIL FCV" high-pressure hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) each to Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama City, on lease contracts. These are the first cases of introduction of FCVs by local governments in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Kanagawa Prefecture has six hydrogen refueling stations, the largest number of any prefecture in Japan. Four of them (three in Yokohama City) are already in operation, and the other two will open in fiscal 2004.

Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama City intend to utilize the FCVs to promote the use of low-emission vehicles, while Nissan will cooperate to collect the vehicles' driving data for further research and development of FCVs.

Nissan has leased three X-TRAIL FCVs so far, including one to Cosmo Oil Co. on March 29, 2004.

The X-TRAIL FCV is a five-passenger vehicle with a maximum speed of 145 kilometers per hour, and a driving range of over 350 kilometers. Its fuel cell stack, manufactured by UTC Fuel Cells of the United States, is a solid polymer electrolyte type, and is powered with compressed hydrogen gas. Equipped with an air-conditioning system jointly developed by Nissan and Calsonic Kansei Corp. that uses carbon dioxide as the refrigerant, the vehicle has a high heating efficiency and a much smaller impact on global warming, compared with earlier models using CFC alternatives.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/STORY/0,1299,SI9-CH180-LO3-TI1022-CI766-IFY-MC109,00.html
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/STORY/0,1299,SI9-CH180-LO3-TI1024-CI767-IFY-MC109,00.html

Posted: 2004/06/21 12:04:09 PM
Japanese version