Nissan Motor Co. on Sunday unveiled an electric car it plans to introduce in Japan and the United States by late 2010.
The five-seat Leaf will travel 160 kilometers on a single charge and hit a top speed of more than 140 kilometers per hour, the automaker said.
Nissan plans to produce 300,000 units annually by 2012, which is 20 times more than rival Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s sales target of 15,000 units for its iMiEV electric car in 2011.
The Leaf, powered by lithium-ion batteries, will be slightly larger than the Nissan Tiida, which has an engine displacement of 1.5 liters.
Nissan has not disclosed the Leaf’s sticker price. Mitsubishi’s iMiEV, based on a 660 cc minicar, sells for 4.599 million yen.