Nissan Ultima Hybrid Car Has High Performance ! January 2005

Its the first few curves that get the blood pumping. The realization sets in: This is no anemic hybrid iteration of a popular sedan, no downsized engine aspiring to raise itself by its electric bootstraps to a higher level of highway enlightenment. Rather, its a performance vehicle disguised as a high fuel economy sedan. Amazing.

Were piloting Nissans prototype hybrid along highways and streets in Northern California, putting to the test this automakers hybrid technology that will find itself first in an Altima sedan sometime in 2006, and more than likely in other models to follow. Coming some six years after Hondas Insight brought hybrid power to American highways, Nissans entry into this field may be later than some would like, but its going to be worth the wait.

Just put yourself in Nissans shoes. This automaker likes to talk performance, what with its formidable 350Z and array of high-tech engines powering a full product line. Going hybrid is no easy challenge, a thought that had to occur to Nissans powers-that-be as the first few years of a new millennium rolled along. Nissan had been working on hybrid technology since the mid-1990s. Green Car Journal editors were behind the wheel of these cars on Nissan test tracks. It was early. The technology was nascent. Performance was what one would expect from developmental hybrid vehicles.

But a change was brewing. Behind the scenes, Nissan and Toyota were talking. This dialogue brought about a strategic agreement in which Nissan would license specific Toyota hybrid technology, mating it with Nissans own internal combustion engines. It was, as Nissans present Altima Hybrid prototype shows, a very synergistic match.

The Nissan were driving combines the Altimas popular 175 hp, 2.5-liter DOHC four cylinder engine with a next-generation Toyota Synergy Drive electric motor. While Nissan wont identify this electric motors specs as yet, its said to offer better than 100 hp, substantial for a hybrid. This high-tech Altima also incorporates a Nissan adaptation of Toyotas electronic motor controller. Together, its a package offering impressive acceleration and none of the performance sacrifices expected of first-generation hybrids.

Like Toyotas own Synergy Drive-equipped hybrid vehicles the current Prius and upcoming Highlander and Lexus RX-400h SUVs the Nissan Altima hybrid is a versatile machine. It operates on electric-only power at low speeds, internal combustion engine power at higher speeds, and both electric and gas powerplants when power needs are great.

Licensing Toyotas Synergy Drive technology for its upcoming hybrid models allows Nissan to benefit from Toyotas substantial hybrid experience while also compressing the develop-mental time frame. Our time behind the wheel shows this is a winning combination. While Nissans Altima Hybrid prototype is just that an early prototype with its youth showing it is a solid demonstration of Nissans direction and a valuable look at what this automaker has in mind for its high-performance hybrid models to come.

SOURCE: Green Car Journal

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