Gas-Electric hybrids by 2010. Thats pretty far behind the curve, even Detroit is doing better then Nissan/Renault. I don’t think Nissan even has a Hydrogen program in place, and if they do GM/Honda/BMW are so far ahead it’s not even funny. Sounds like Nissan continues to drop the ball.

We ARE entering a new Volt Age!!

It is “easier” to clean up the pollution at the generation plant than millions of tailpipes (many linked to 1980’s and older dirty engines).

Bury a small Honda generator in the trunk to run the A/C and to charge the batteries if ya have to park nowhere near a plug.

IMHO, gas/electric hybrids as we know them today will be virtually history by then.

i thought the hybrid altima was going to be here by 2008?
how about a diesel powered Titan, Frontier and Xterra. Nissan could beat up toyota pretty bad if they broadened the Titan to include HD models with diesels and higher powered gas motors. and if they had diesels in their light trucks.

I went to the Northeast International auto show a couple of weeks ago and they had a hybrid Altima there. The Nissan guy said they are going on sale early 2007 like late January early Febuary.

I wonder what happened to “not economically feasible at this time?” At any rate, I like the idea of long range electric cars just as much as fuel cells since the electrics are going to be significantly less in cost at least for the short term. As long as they don’t produce cars based on corn ethanol, I’ll be satisfied for the moment. Come to think of it, I wonder how much carmakers make per car on each hybrid?

There was an Altima Hybrid at the Orange County, CA auto show a few months ago, and it is to be shown again at the Los Angeles show next week. Knowing this makes the entire Nikkei article suspect.

Slowly but surely…

And I’ll add another plug for more rear-drive and all-wheel-drive Nissan cars while I’m at it.

A4 – You are correct, but the upcoming hybrid Altima is slated to be built using Toyota’s “Hybrid Synergy Drive” technology – Nissan and Ford have both licensed the rights to use it in their products as a stop-gap measure while they work to develop their own hybrid powertrains. If I’m not mistaken, Ford is just about ready to go into production with their version, and it should debut in the upcoming Escape refresh. Although Ford will call it a “Second Generation” for their powertrain, it’s actually going to be their first, since now they are ready to go forward on hybrids without Toyota.

InvisibleEcho – I had the same thought, but then I figure even Nissan knows it’s not politically correct to keep ignoring the hybrid market. Hybrids won’t do much for their bottom line, but then those machines have never been about good business in the first place, much less profit. Hybrids are about brand image and public relations more than anything else, so I can’t say I blame Nissan or others for dragging their feet. As a potential customer, it doesn’t sit well with me that I’ll have to fork over additional — and substantial — up front costs with very little return expected. Then there’s the issue with growing pains; I’m not in a financial position where I can afford unexpected problems (and associated repair costs) with my personal transportation. I prefer to buy a new car with with a reasonable warranty (but without mileage restrictions imposed by leasing as road trips are a required part of my life) then trade up for another new model a year or two after said protection expires. With rare and specific exceptions, a car is a liability no what your accounting perspective, so why spend more than you have to? Car manufactures like Nissan have front major R&D costs to bring these hybrids to market, only to find that most of their customers are making essentially the same case as explained here. As such, who can credibly blame any of them for holding out as long as possible?

There’s no telling what I would do if I ever saw someone using a gasoline powered generator to ‘fill up’ their car batteries. That would be the ultimate hippie thing to do!!

Time for a quick fact. A gasonline lawn mower run for one hour a week for one year puts out more greenhouse gases/pollution than a typical car does in 20,000 miles. Run that generator….