Nissan will unveil electric sports car concept at Geneva show

13 years, 10 months ago - 15 February 2011
Nissan will unveil electric sports car concept at Geneva show
The automaker has released images of the ESFLOW, a rear-wheel-drive two-seater powered by electric motors in its back wheels. The car will appear next month as a concept car at the Geneva motor show.

According to the Nissan, the ESFLOW will go from 0 to 60 in less than five seconds and travel 150 miles on a full charge of its lithium ion battery pack.

The company maintains that the range will be closer to 100 miles on a battery charge in many driving conditions.

Significant difference between the Leaf and ESFLOW comes from body weight. The more aerodynamic ESFLOW uses an aluminum chassis and is about 1,000 pounds lighter than the four-door Leaf.

The battery pack is positioned at the center of the chassis to give it equal weight distribution for better handling.

The concept boasts leather and suede seats, and other sports-car cues inside, but carries long headlights similar to those on the electric family car.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has promised a portfolio of electric-only vehicles for his dealers. But until now, only two other future models had been identified for production: a four-passenger vehicle for the Infiniti brand, based on the Leaf platform but using a different design; and an electric commercial van that presumably would be sold by the 250 or so Nissan dealers who have agreed to market the company's commercial vehicle line.

Nissan is in very limited production of the Leaf this year and will have limited production next year because of global production constraints in Japan.

But in late 2012, the company will start mass production of the Leaf and its batteries in Smyrna, Tenn. The company says Smyrna will yield 150,000 Leafs a year and 200,000 battery modules after that.