Carlos Ghosn proclaims a new automobile epoch

As Carlos Ghosn assures, and this influential head of autoalliance Renault-Nissan rigidly supervises performance of the promises, in 2010 all over the world, the company will already construct 200 000 electromobiles.

In 1999 Renault invested considerable means in Japanese company Nissan which was on the verge of bankruptcy. Carlos Ghosn has left in Tokyo to undertake rescue Nissan. The company was in a crisis condition. The recipe which Ghosn has registered Nissan, has liked not to all. Ghosn has got rid of actives of the companies-suppliers belonging Nissan, has sold a number of branches and has reduced the most part of departments, cardinally having changed a policy of the company. It was necessary even has closed some factories in Japan and has dismissed every tenth employee of the company. For Japanese it became a shock, after all for them post loss - one of the most terrible insults. Ghosn has planned the arrogant purpose — by 2005 to lift sales to 1 million cars a year — and has achieved the, the plan has worked, in Japan Ghons became a celebrity.

Today Nissan shows to the world a prototype of mass serial electromobile Nissan Leaf which promises to become in the future a usual thing for a landscape of many cities of the world.

The world premiere of new model Nissan Leaf has taken place on Sunday in new headquarters of company Nissan in Yokohama. “Symbolism of opening of our new global headquarters cannot be underestimated, — the president and CEO companies Nissan Carlos Ghosn has told. — We foretell the beginning of a new epoch for our company”.

On the first-ever accessible electromobile with zero level of emissions of harmful substances in atmosphere the former prime minister of Japan, the prefect of prefecture Kanagava Sigefumi Matsudzava and the mayor of the city of Yokohama have left on a scene.

So, Nissan is ready to begin manufacture concerning inexpensive (Nissan believes, that the price of an electromobile will not be beyond cost of habitual hatchbacks of the S-segment) the car which goes only by an electricity. First electromobiles Nissan Leaf will be made at factories in the city of Oppama in Japan and in the State of Tennessee in the USA. Next year sales will begin sales of these cars in the automobile markets of Japan, the USA and Europe. Since 2012 mass deliveries of this model to the world markets will begin.

Working out and attempt to present to the automobile market a mass electromobile — very much a risky step, and Carlos Ghosn understands it.

As he said, in the market is enough the big potential demand for cars with a zero exhaust. A certain circle of consumers wish to own electromobiles, plus of the government of the USA, France, Germany, China, Japan, the Great Britain, Spain have made inquiries about cars with zero emission. For the consumer it is the car inexpensive and very economic in daily operation, and the governments of the interested countries will create conditions for development of an infrastructure of convenient use of Japanese cars of this type.

It is supposed, that special racks for gymnastics of electromobiles will appear on large parkings, and also on parking before shops and shopping centres. On places which will be designated “EV Only”, it will be possible to charge the car through a wire and the socket, and for fast gymnastics the contactless electromagnetic method through the car bottom will be used. The centres of cities can receive “pure zones” where operation of cars with a nonzero exhaust will be forbidden. Roads can receive special strips for movement with the same designation “EV Only”.

Carlos Ghosn notices, that demand for electromobiles of concern does not cause.

The head is ill just about, whether can make an alliance so much cars of the given type, how many it is necessary for the market. “Originally demand will strongly exceed the offer, and we will go only on those markets which government will support to us, — president Nissan speaks. — We will choose and invest only in such markets where the governments will give concessionary terms of credits, — for example, in the USA we will receive the soft loan with the low interest rate on 1 billion 600 million dollars”. That is Carlos Ghosn is intended not hesitating to use in the purposes aspiration of the governments of the rich countries not to save on ecology. In exchange giving the car with a zero exhaust of harmful substances.

Nissan Leaf it is constructed on absolutely new platform which was created under an electromobile. Batteries are placed under a floor of salon, suspension brackets are compact, and the electromotor and the necessary equipment are located over a forward axis of the car, covering about half of usual motor coupe. As a result the most part of space of a body is given passengers.

The electromobile has a habitual body of a five-door hatchback. The modern and bright form of a forward part — unusual, with the big lanterns and a massive door. The electromobile from Nissan is more similar to traditional petrol hatchbacks, than hybrids from Toyota and Honda with vanguard appearance. Headlights Nissan Leaf give additional aerodynamic function: they level air streams bypassing lateral mirrors, reducing resistance of air and noise during movement.

The most expensive part of an electromobile today are food batteries. On car Nissan uses lithium-ionic batteries in which designing Nissan has already got the hand on previous conceptual workings out and prototypes on electrodraught. Considering mass character of manufacture Nissan Leaf, batteries should be issued by huge circulation. Specially for this purpose Nissan has already constructed factory on mass production of lithium-ionic batteries in the city of Zama (Japan) that has lowered their cost price. Already there are plans on placing of manufacture of batteries in the USA, the Great Britain and Portugal.

Batteries from Nissan were developed under three key parametres: long time of a life, the low price and high reliability. The fuel cells similar to inflated sheets of paper of format А4, united in cassette blocks. These blocks it is possible to lay out as much as possible densely space under a floor of the most unusual configuration.

Successes on range of a trip on one gymnastics for Nissan Leaf not most impressing. It only 160 km... But Carlos Ghosn notices, that researches show absence at inhabitants of the USA (the country with the greatest distances) bent for to long daily travel: 90% of Americans pass in day no more than 160 km. The same situation develops and in other countries of the world. Working out was conducted taking into account this figure.

Carlos Ghosn has noticed on car presentation, that batteries are constantly improved and range of a trip of an electromobile will grow in the future by all means.

Engineers Nissan have supplied the first electromobile with original computer system which shows on a navigation chart area of real movement of the car on the remained gymnastics of batteries and designates all stations of gymnastics of electromobiles. The navigating system is connected with the global centre of data, providing the owner of an electromobile constant information support. To operate electromobile functions it is possible directly from a mobile phone, for example, in advance to include the conditioner or to put the car on gymnastics.

“For today still any company has not made mass and accessible at the price of an electromobile — we will be the first in the market, — speaks Ghosn. — Our electromobile powerful enough, the car is simple in management. Acceleration is similar to a turbo-engine, only at a turbo still it is necessary to wait, roughly speaking, half-seconds, and the electricity forces the engine to enter work immediately”.

In Nissan realise that the electromobile cannot concede to petrol cars under the basic operational characteristics, differently the car is doomed to stay in a stage of conceptual working out...
Nissan has tried to make this car same as all the others, plus has added one — has made the car completely electric. Profitability became the main advantage. Only with similar model of an electromobile it is possible to leave on the world market.

Carlos Ghosn assures, what exactly electrocars become the mass goods, having outstripped in the near future hybrids. Now there is a competition of technologies, someone invests in workings out of cars of one type (hybrids, diesel engines), someone in others. We believe, that electromobiles will grasp more than 5-10% of the market, while hybrids — only 2%. "About oil forecasts exist absolutely different, — reflects in the head of an alliance, we consider, that the prices for oil will not decrease. In the near future, such countries, as: Brazil, Russia, India, China — considerably will lift the economy, will consume much more energy and the price for gasoline considerably will grow". Now oil is on sale for 50 dollars for barrel, but even at such prices for fuel the electromobile in operation will be more favourable than the usual car.