Toyota and Nissan take different eco approach

Take for example the case of world's two leading carmanufactures-Toyota and Nissan. Both the companies are working hard tocome up with eco-friendly car programmes in a bid to become the'green' brand of choice for modern consumers. However the rivals aretaking a different approach from one another in their bid.

Toyota, for example, sees hybrids are the future, building on the success of the Prius. Nissan, on the other hand, is concentrating on battery technology, working closely with NEC to achieve its goal.

Toyota UK managing director Miguel Fonseca stated that the company will continue to use petrol rather than diesel for the internal combustion element of its drivetrains.

"Petrol has better efficiency at high RPM than diesel, while electric motors are better at low revs," he said.

Nissan, in the recently concluded British International Motor Showunveiled a battery-electric prototype of its Cube city car, a vehiclethat will only be sold in Japan. However, the company is planning tocommercialise an electric car before the end of 2010 thanks todevelopments in lithium-ion batteries.

Pierre Loing, vice-president of product planning for Nissan, said: "European sales will start in 2011, and we would like to be mass producing electric cars - not just one or two hundred - by 2012."

Adding further details on Nissan plans, Loing said European EV will beable to seat 4-5 adults and have a range of 100 miles, Plus Li-Ionbatteries will allow an 80 per cent recharge in around 20-25 minutes.Ultimately, Nissan will have a line-up of electric cars, as well asplug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars, which will not be available until" no earlier than 2015".

Also part of the plan is Nissan's so-called "supermotor" - effectively two electric motors in one that can drive both front wheels, rather than having separate motors driving each wheel.