Nissan already has the Leaf, and now the company is moving forward on electrifying the compact commercial vehicle market.
The Japanese-based company recently announced it will begin proving tests this month for a family of electric vehicles (EVs) based on its NV200 van.
The smallish but tallish NV200 is now sold in Japan, Europe, China and Singapore, but Nissan has plans to launch it in the United States and India.
It got a big boost Stateside in May, when it won the Taxi of Tomorrow competition to become New York City’s next generation of taxicab.
Nissan said it will measure the capacity of the EVs in practical applications. In the first phase of testing, a test vehicle will do mail-carrying duties in the city of Yokohama. Later, further tests will be run in both Japan and Europe. Based on the findings, Nissan said it will tailor appropriate vehicles to meet consumer needs.
“We will certainly reflect the customer feedback gained from these proving tests in our future product development, and I expect that our commercial electric vehicles based on the NV200 will contribute to our customers’ business and to the development of a sustainable society,” said Nissan Corporate Vice President Hideto Murakami, responsible for the Global LCV Business Unit.
Nissan has been a major player in the promotion of electric vehicles, of course, introducing the all-electric cars like the Leaf in the past year, and has been involved in other zero emissions projects. The company also boasts of its efforts in producing lithium ion batteries, developing EV charging infrastructure, and recycling and reusing batteries.
