Nissan is moving full speed ahead with plans to introduce a pure electric car in 2010 for fleet customers in Japan and the United States.
    
    After testing its vehicle with fleet customers, Nissan will market the electric car worldwide in 2012 to retail customers. The car will be powered by lithium ion batteries developed in Nissan’s joint venture with NEC Corp.
    
    Last month, two senior Nissan executives spelled out their plans for an electric car in interviews during the Geneva auto show.
    
    "The first production vehicles will be for regional areas like California," said Masahiko Tabe, Nissan’s manager of advanced vehicle engineering. "We will later expand the EV all over the world."
    
    Tabe said Nissan is testing its lithium batteries in the Cube, a tall, boxy car sold in Japan. The vehicle’s distinctive styling is reminiscent of the squared-off Scion xB.
    
    Nissan will sell the next-generation Cube in the United States, but Tabe declined to indicate whether the electric vehicle will actually be called the Cube.
    
    "The technology will first appear in a small vehicle," Tabe said.
    
    The production vehicle will have a daily range of 100 miles (161 kilometers), with an estimated top speed of 75 miles per hour (121 kilometers per hour). A complete recharge will take about eight hours.
    
    The lithium ion battery pack will have 24 cells, each with four batteries.
    
    Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s executive vice president for global product planning, said the electric vehicle will be i deal for commuters.
    
    "If you look at the number of kilometers people drive per day to commute, more than 90 percent of the people do less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) a day," Tavares said. "There is a huge, huge potential there for EVs."
    
    Asked whether the Cube name and boxy styling will be central to the electric vehicle’s character and identification, Tavares said, "I cannot tell you more on that topic."