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The all-electric Nissan Leaf took home Japan's Car of the Year award at the close of the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the third such award for Nissan Leaf in a year. This is the 32nd year the Car of the Year Japan awards has been held, and it is the first time in its long history that the prize has gone to an electric vehicle.
Nissan Leaf's Tokyo success follows its European Car of the Year and World Car of the Year trophies this year.
The Leaf is auto giant Nissan's first mass-produced electric car and since its launch at the end of last year, some 20,000 vehicles have been sold, mostly in Japan and in the U.S. This 100 percent electric car is a zero-emission vehicle that emits no carbon dioxide while it is being driven. It is fitted with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which enable the car to travel 200 km with every charge, and interestingly enough, these high-capacity lithium-ion batteries can also provide electricity for houses.
The Leaf comes with advanced automotive telematics, which enable drivers to remotely control the car's functions, such as switching on the air conditioning system and charging the car's battery, using their smart phones or personal computers.
All the accolades won by Nissan Leaf this year demonstrate that zero-emission vehicles can be competitive alternatives to conventional ones. In addition to the three awards mentioned earlier, the Leaf was also chosen as the 2012 RJC Car of the Year by the Automotive Researchers' and Journalists' Conference of Japan. Nissan, which is part-owned by France's Renault, has invested some US$5 billion in the development of electric cars.
Nissan's forecast is that in five years, Nissan and Renault will have sold 1.5 million of these vehicles and that the world market demand for electric cars will increase from 0.05 percent today to 15 percent in ten years. The demand for hybrid (fuel and electric) vehicles should also see a jump from 1 percent today to between 5 and 10 percent over the same period.
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Nissan Pivo-3 concept
Besides the Leaf, Nissan also had other electric concepts on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, including the Pivo 3, which could be remotely manoeuvred using a smart phone. Aimed at singles and couples enjoying an urban lifestyle, this three-seater concept with pop-out doors is able to make sharp U-turns and do automatic parking. An Automated Valet Parking (AVP) system allows the driver and passengers to alight from the car while the PIVO 3 heads off by itself to park in a specially-equipped lot, where it can be programmed to either recharge its battery or sell electricity back to the grid. When it is time to leave, the car owner uses his/her smartphone to summon the car to return to its designated pick-up point.
Electric cars with cutting-edge green technology and vehicles controlled remotely by smartphones have been a star feature at this year's Tokyo Motor Show, its 42nd, which featured 179 exhibitors from a dozen countries.
Besides the Leaf, Nissan also had other electric concepts on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, including the Pivo 3, which could be remotely manoeuvred using a smart phone. Aimed at singles and couples enjoying an urban lifestyle, this three-seater concept with pop-out doors is able to make sharp U-turns and do automatic parking. An Automated Valet Parking (AVP) system allows the driver and passengers to alight from the car while the PIVO 3 heads off by itself to park in a specially-equipped lot, where it can be programmed to either recharge its battery or sell electricity back to the grid. When it is time to leave, the car owner uses his/her smartphone to summon the car to return to its designated pick-up point.
Electric cars with cutting-edge green technology and vehicles controlled remotely by smartphones have been a star feature at this year's Tokyo Motor Show, its 42nd, which featured 179 exhibitors from a dozen countries.