Nissan looks beyond 2010 LEAF to new ultra-efficient hybrid

Ask Nissan for its list of top 10 projects right now and the all-electric LEAF is sure to be on it, but the company is looking beyond that too. Appealing to drivers who don’t want to plug their car in every night, Nissan is developing a car it expects to benefit from double the mileage of a standard gasoline car. That makes the efficiency gains on hybrids like the 2010 Toyota Prius look modest with their 15-30% increase in mpg.

Better features and bigger numbers are a prerequisite for anyone entering a competitive landscape late, and Nissan is a decade behind its two biggest competitors. If it can get the pricing right and maintain a reputation for high quality, safe cars then it may just have a chance at pulling in new customers by leapfrogging Toyota and Honda.

The first car to take advantage of Nissan’s one-motor, two-clutch hybrid system will be a the hybrid Infiniti M sedan, named Fuga. Initially the company intends to sell it in Japan and plans for the U.S. or other markets are not yet clear.

Koichi Hayasaki, chief engineer of Nissan's rear-wheel-drive hybrid system says “typically, carmakers say the fuel economy improvement on their cars using a 'strong' or 'full' hybrid system is roughly 30 percent, while for 'mild' hybrids [like Honda's], it's 15 percent,” via CNET.

Like the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan’s Fuga will make use of a lithium-ion battery which captures energy more quickly than other systems that use nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Up until now Nissan has only sold one hybrid vehicle, the Altima sedan and that uses Toyota’s hybrid synergy drive. Nissan’s new system uses fewer materials and is less expensive to build, it remains to be seen if that will translate into lower prices. Right now Nissan is aiming for the hybrid Fuga to deliver 60-90% better fuel economy than a gasoline car.