Nissan Electric Minivan Program

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In the 1990s, Nissan leased a demonstration fleet of lithium-ion battery powered minivans with a 120 mile range. Why a minivan rather than a smaller and lighter electric car that could drive a much more impressive 200 miles between charges? Nissan realized that a larger platform vehicle would be required to ultimately generate the sales it would need for electric cars in California. The evolution of Nissan’s electric vehicle program included such vehicles as the Future Electric Vehicle (FEV), FEV II, Prairie Joy EV, and the Altra EV, among others. These reports, reprinted just as they ran in the 1990s, share how Nissan’s electric vehicle program was unfolding and the vehicles that were making it happen.

NISSAN’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE PLANS
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 1996 Nissan has debuted some pretty exciting electric vehicle and charging concepts over the past five years. But interestingly, it has kept quiet about both its product plans and strategy to deal with the emerging worldwide EV market of late, and its obligations under the Memorandum of Agreement reached with the California Air Resources Board earlier this year. But the silence is over.

The automaker has announced it will be offering a four-passenger electric vehicle to fleet and government users in the Japanese market beginning next year, with a new U.S. EV debuting in early 1998. Called the Prairie Joy, the Japanese market electric vehicle is propelled by a 62 kW AC motor powered by a 28.8-volt, 100 amp-hour lithium-ion battery pack. It will feature a maximum speed of 75 mph, 0-50 mph acceleration of 12 seconds, and a single-charge driving range of greater than 124 miles.

"Our previous lead-acid program has been modest in size, and for that reason we haven't had a whole lot of things to talk about," John Schutz, Nissan's director of regulatory affairs and general manager of Nissan R&D in Los Angeles told Green Car when asked about the automaker's previously low profile approach.

“We've only had a handful of those vehicles over here, even though we did put about 25 of them in service in Japan over the last couple of years." He adds that by next spring, the Prairie Joy EV will likely be leased to some of the same customers that have been testing the earlier variants including utilities, government agencies, and other fleets. Nissan will be bringing a limited number of Prairie Joy EVs into the U.S. later this year for hot and cold weather testing. Then, sometime next year, the automaker will bring in an electric minivan model for a slightly larger evaluation.

“That will be the configuration used for the vehicles brought over in early 1998 for the first year of the demonstration program under the terms of the California MOA," shares Schutz. The EV will be based on a yet-to-be-introduced minivan platform primarily intended for the Japanese market.

"It's a vehicle that will not come to the U.S. market in conventional [internal combustion] form," adds Schutz. "It will be modified to the extent necessary to make it comply with U.S. NHTSA requirements, so it will have a conventional U.S. instrument panel with airbags and such for this market." The new Japan-market minivan platform is being designed so it can handle the EV conversion in a straightforward manner, and electric variants will be built right at the assembly plant.

Since Nissan's obligation under the terms of the California MOA rounds off to 120 vehicles over three years, Nissan will be bringing about 30 EVs to the U.S. market by 1998 and an additional 90 over the next two years. These will primarily be aimed at fleet users and employees who commute in Los Angeles.

The real surprise is Nissan's use of lithium-ion battery technology. "Certainly, no one had expected that lithium-ion would progress quite as quickly as some of the others," says Schutz. "Judging from the way that lithium-ion has been characterized in the past, I think our program is moving along pretty quickly."

"We started the program with Sony more than four years ago and that's really the only advanced technology we've looked closely at," says Schutz. He adds that Nissan has conducted short evaluations of other technologies, but the use of lithium-ion seemed the right approach. ''We wanted the very best technology that we thought could be ready in the time frame that appeared realistic. Sony was willing to commit the resources to a long term development program for vehicle use that seemed to fit our objectives."

The automaker has other surprises in store. Although it's been publicly leaning toward a conductive charging approach for its future EVs, Nissan has announced its intention to adopt Hughes' inductive charging technology for both its Japanese and U.S. electric vehicle variants.

''We are still negotiating both with Toyoda Automatic Loom, who are the licensees in Japan for the Hughes technology, and with Delco Power Control Systems here to see which source we'll use for the programs we've laid out," says Schutz. ''We're talking with Edison EV about taking care of our needs here locally [in the U.S.] for inductive charging."

When asked about the Nissan FEV-II concept vehicle, Schutz admits that it "is a buildable vehicle," with the same battery pack space and motor controller as the Prairie Joy. But he's quick to point out that "there have been no decisions made regarding the FEV-II."

"As we move forward toward the point of ramping up to the 2003 requirements, we'll certainly be looking at adding other models," Schutz summarizes. ''We don't expect to be able to carry 10% of our sales volume in California with just one body style." To Green Car editors' way of thinking, the FEV-II seems just about right to fill the niche as Nissan's small electric commuter car in this market.

ALTRA EV MINIVAN USES LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 1998 Nissan's 1998 Altra EV, an electrified iteration of the all-new R'nessa minivan, an internal combustion model sold only in Japan, created quite a stir at its official North American debut at this year's Greater L.A Auto Show.

The reason? It's the first time any production electric vehicle has used lithium-ion batteries, scaled-up versions of the batteries found in the highest-end notebook computers and video cameras. Just as lithium-ion allows these portable devices to operate longer on battery power, this advanced battery technology also provides an EV with a longer single charge driving range – 120 miles in the case of this minivan.

It could have been more. Nissan chose to go with a minivan because of its universal appeal and functionality. However, there was a desire on the part of some Nissan executives to go with a smaller, lighter EV because the Li-ion batteries could have provided a stunning 200 mile single-charge driving range in a smaller platform. Instead, the automaker chose a platform that weighs in at just over 100 pounds more than Honda's EV Plus.

The Altra EV's Li-ion battery pack consists of 12 modules of eight cells connected in series, or a total of 96 cells, each measuring 2.6" in diameter and 16" in length. A Hughes-type inductive charging system, the same as GM's EV1, is used on the Altra EV. A full charge from empty takes about five hours.

The decision to integrate Sony Li-ion batteries represents substantial vision on the part of Nissan, and also, it seems, an ability to absorb significant short term losses. While Nissan sources will not officially comment on the actual cost of the Li-ion battery pack, insiders say that early versions cost somewhere between $50,000 to $70,000 each. Obviously, these costs will drop dramatically and quickly as the technology advances and greater numbers of these batteries are produced. In the meantime, high costs for early EVs used in limited demonstrations are to be expected.

Power is provided by a 83 horsepower permanent magnet synchronous motor and a 32-bit high-speed RISC motor controller processor. The motor features a compact design that weighs just 85 pounds. This electric powertrain achieves a high overall energy efficiency of approximately 90 percent under ordinary driving conditions.

Green Car editors had the opportunity to put the Altra EV through its paces at the automaker's Tochigi test track in Japan. This test drive proved the Altra EV to be quite a capable performer, with good acceleration and handling characteristics. In fact, no apparent shortcomings were detected other than some slight gear whine, not a surprising occurrence since this vehicle's operation is otherwise silent, with no internal combustion engine or exhaust noise to mask normal mechanical sounds.

Inside, an innovative, titanium-colored digital instrument panel displays performance and charge status that was easy to read during our test drive. Comfortable seating for four is provided with front and mid-section bucket seats. A good amount of cargo area is provided at the rear.

This four-place seating configuration, rather than the six- or seven-place seating found in conventional minivans, is simply a concession to the need to keep total gross vehicle weight within certain limits to ensure optimum driving range. Everything, from vehicle weight to aerodynamics to rolling resistance, is crucial in electric vehicles that carry a very finite amount of energy onboard. This is an especially important consideration since the Altra EV carries an 800 pound battery pack mounted beneath the floorboard.

Nissan is bringing 30 Altra EVs to the U.S. for testing this year, mostly within its own employee fleet and in the fleets of several electric utilities. Nissan sources tell Green Car that delivery of the first 15 Altra EVs from Japan is slightly behind schedule, but they are expected imminently. After the initial 30 examples arrive, an additional 90 Altra EVs are scheduled to be brought to the U.S. for placement with fleets by 2000.

Of course, the Altra EV represents but one highly visible part of this automaker's electric vehicle program. By all accounts there's also a hybrid electric variant coming, possibly based on the efficient Nissan Avenir developmental hybrid platform that Green Car editors had the opportunity to test drive at the automaker's Tochigi track in late 1997.

While this hybrid vehicle was clearly still in the development stage – much of the interior was devoted to battery placement and instrumentation – it was far enough along to prove the viability of Nissan's hybrid work.

Tadao Takei, Nissan's executive vice president, has been quoted as predicting a January 1999 launch of a Nissan hybrid EV in Japan. This follows the late-1998 launch of Toyota's Prius hybrid EV in the Japanese market. Takei expressed doubt that Nissan would reach the current 3,000 unit-per-month production of the Prius, which was recently ramped up to meet unexpectedly high demand for the Toyota hybrid.

Still, the fact that Nissan is moving forward with a hybrid launch signals an important commitment to what promises to be an exciting and growing segment of the auto industry.

Nissan Altra EV
Technical Specifications