Nissan Motor Co, hoping to boost disappointing sales for the Leaf electric car, said today that it has improved the driving range of its alternative-fuel vehicle by 14 percent and lowered its price tag.
Nissan officials said changes to the remodeled Leaf, shown in Tokyo, were based on comments from customers who voiced fears of their vehicle running out of its electric charge and stranding them.
Electric vehicles, including the Leaf, have not caught on as fast as some expected due to concerns over driving range, as well as the lack of a charging infrastructure and customer resistance to paying too high a price premium over similar sized gas-powered cars.
"When technologies employed to cars are still in their first generation, it's not so easy for customers to try them out. We think that our new pricing and improvement in performance could be key to helping customers switch to electric vehicles," Nissan Leaf engineer Hidetoshi Kadota told reporters.
The remodeled Leaf can run 228 km (140 miles) when fully charged up from about 200 km before. Nissan officials said the car shed some 80 kg (180 pounds) through powertrain rearrangement and a lighter lithium-ion battery structure.
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