Undoubtedly, Nissan’s star car at JIMS is the GT-R, but not to be outdone by its performance sibling, Nissan’s Nuvu shows the future design direction of the Japanese marque and features a host of new technologies.
By Kelly Lodewyks
The Nuvu is Nissan’s electric vehicle that the company plans to release onto the Japanese and US markets in 2010 and then globally in 2012. “Nissan’s vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, literally a ‘new view’ of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade,” explains Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Nissan South Africa.
According to Nissan, the Nuvu is agile and easy to drive and park. This small electric car gathers its power from the dozen or so leaf-shaped solar panels on its all-glass roof. The power generated from these panels power up the battery using what Nissan describes as a “tree trunk” (energy tree) within the car as a conduit.
The electric motor is mounted at the rear and power is sent to the rear wheels. Nissan has not released exact power and torque figures, but the manufacturer has said that the Nuvu’s electric motor has a adriving range of 125 km and a top speed of 120 km/h.
The laminated lithium-ion type batteries used in this vehicle have a capacity of 140Wh/kg. The total capacity of the batteries and number of modules are not being disclosed at this stage.
The cabin of this vehicle is made up of a variety of natural, organic and recycled materials.
The Nissan GT-R will go on sale in South Africa sometime in 2009. Final specification details for the SA-bound GT-R have not yet been released, but something to look forward to would be the hand-built VR38 twin-IHI-turbo engine, claimed to be the most potent production powerplant ever produced in Japan. This unit is no longer a straight six, as in Skyline GT-R models. The new unit is a 3,8-litre V6 that delivers 353 kW at 6 400 r/min, while 588 N.m of torque is available between 3 200 and 5 200 r/min.
Mated with a six-speed paddle shift transmission, the GT-R goes from zero to 100 km/h in a claimed time of 3,6 seconds before maxing out at 310 km/h.
Other vehicles on Nissan’s JIMS stand include the recently released NP200. This bakkie has a claimed 800kg payload capacity. The NP200 is currently powered by a 1,6-litre petrol engine developing 64 kW at 5 500 r/min and 128 N.m of torque at 3 000r/min. Further variants will emerge during the course of next year.
Click here to view a video of the GT-R or raid the wallpaper vault for GT-R wallpapers.
To view a video of the NP200, click here or read a driving impression.
CARtoday.com is at JIMS, so keep an eye on our dedicated JIMS page for the latest news updates, videos and wallpapers relating to the stars of JIMS.
