On Friday, a Nissan spokesman told Bloomberg News that the automaker is “studying possibilities to put our hybrid system in other models” in addition to the Nissan Altima Hybrid and a future luxury hybrid. According to Nissan, no definite decisions about which models will become hybrids have been made.

Nissan has been licensing Toyota’s hybrid technology for use in the Altima Hybrid, which is sold in eight states in the United States. In August 2008, Nissan announced that it will develop its own hybrid technology, featuring lithium ion batteries, rear-wheel drive and a parallel hybrid powertrain. Nissan will begin selling hybrids based on its own homegrown technology in Japan in 2011. A new report from Nikkei indicated that a minivan could be Nissan’s first hybrid in Japan.

The first sign that Nissan could be making a u-turn on hybrids came in April 2009, when Minoru Shinohara, Nissan corporate senior vice president, said that plug-in hybrids will be an important transition solution to the pure electric vehicle because they don’t need an extensive public charging infrastructure. The cost of building the public charging infrastructure will cost billions of dollars; therefore, most analysts believe that it could take years to construct.

Purity on Pure Electric Cars

Until recently, Nissan executives were talking about pure electric cars as the only viable alternative solution for long-term sustainability. Last year, Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning, told HybridCars.com that plug-in hybrids are a “bridge technology” because they are not completely zero emission. “You’re basically carrying around two powerplants and double the amount of weight,” he said. “A plug-in hybrid that gets 40 miles [without gasoline] is good…but you’re not zero emission. A pure battery electric is zero emission all the time, and that’s how we get C02 reduction, and how we get off foreign oil.”

Nissan will unveil the design of its first all-electric sedan next month—and is targeting its first sales in 2010 in Japan, with a roll out to fleets in the US around 2012.

In the meantime, Nissan has been shut out of the vibrant hybrid market. In June, Japan’s market for hybrid gas-electric cars has bypassed the US market for the first time to become the biggest seller of hybrids in the world. In fact, a hybrid has been the best selling model in Japan for the past three consecutive months—the new Honda Insight in April, and the new Toyota Prius in May and June. The introduction of new models, enhanced government incentives, and gas prices in the $4.50 a gallon range have all contributed to the rise in sales—which apparently have contributed to Nissan’s reconsideration of hybrids as merely “niche products.”

The post Reversing Track, Nissan Plans More Hybrids appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Most importantly, Nissan gave a glimpse of how its first dedicated hybrid-specific vehicle might work. The company demonstrated the system by placing it in an Infiniti G35—but the yet-to-be-named hybrid is slated to go on sale as a completely new offering in 2010 in Japan and in the United States.

With the introduction of Honda’s dedicated hybrid in 2009, and the new Nissan hybrid on its way, automakers are establishing a trend of producing hybrids that do not have conventional counterparts.

Where the first-generation Nissan Altima Hybrid employed technology licensed from Toyota, the new Nissan hybrid will use technology developed by Nissan, and will feature lithium ion batteries. Nissan’s first homegrown hybrid delivers two other technical strategies—rear-wheel drive and a parallel hybrid powertrain.

A company press release emphasized the parallel system’s use of two clutches: “Under changing driving conditions, the motor switches between the two clutches to optimize and conserve energy utilization as well as improve fuel efficiency.” Bearing some resemblance to the two-mode hybrids from General Motors, the Nissan system is apparently aimed at a blend of power and efficiency. In the Nissan press release, they call it “higher responsiveness and linear acceleration for improved driving feel.” Power is part of the Nissan brand, but putting too much muscle in a hybrid, especially a dedicated hybrid vehicle, could undermine the raison d’etre of gas-electric technology: saving fuel.

Engineers also displayed an electric vehicle that looked like a large version of its box-shaped Denki Cube. The production version of the electric vehicle will be introduced in 2010 in Japan and US, and will roll out globally in 2012. The design of the vehicle is original—not based on any existing Nissan body style. The electric vehicle features a front-wheel drive layout and uses a newly developed 80 kW motor and inverter. The advanced compact lithium ion batteries are stowed under the floor to leave maximum room for cabin and cargo space.

Can Nissan deliver on its plans? Maybe so, considering that the company has more experience with lithium ion batteries than any other automaker: Nissan used lithium batteries as far back as 1996 in its wildly named Prairie Joy EV.

The advanced lithium ion batteries used in both the electric vehicle and hybrid are sourced from the Nissan-NEC joint venture, known as AESC (Automotive Energy Supply Corporation). According to Nissan, the batteries offer “superior performance, reliability, safety, versatility and cost competitiveness.” Those lithium batteries are also expected to deliver twice the electric power compared to the nickel metal hydride batteries used in today’s hybrids.

The post Nissan's First Dedicated Homegrown Hybrid appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid has been officially approved by the IRS as a qualified hybrid vehicle for the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit. Buyers of the car may now be eligible for a tax credit up to $2,350, the same amount offered for the 2007 model of the car. The renewal of the Altima tax credit gives Nissan’s hybrid an advantage over its closest competitor, the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Toyota hybrids are no longer eligible for any tax credit.

The IRS reported that Nissan sold a total of 7,849 qualifying hybrid vehicles as of the quarter ending September 30, 2007. According to tax credit guidelines, an automaker can offer the incentive on its vehicles until it sells 60,000 qualified hybrids. Once sales hit this magic number, the credits begin to phase out. Nissan has quite a long way to go before hitting the ceiling—especially since the Altima Hybrid is currently available in just eight states.

The Altima Hybrid’s retail price is competitive at $24,400—about $1,500 less than the Camry. When you add another $2,350 offered to Altima buyers in the form of the federal hybrid tax credit, then the difference in price between the two vehicles approaches four grand.

Toyota and Honda have each already sold their 60,000 hybrids. The reduction of tax credits for Toyota hybrids, which were the first to expire, have apparently had little effect on sales of the company’s hybrid vehicles.

It remains to be seen if Nissan’s cost advantage—as a result of the tax credit—creates more interest in the Altima Hybrid in the eight states where the vehicle is sold.

The post Tax Credit Gives 2008 Altima Hybrid An Edge over Camry Hybrid appeared first on HybridCars.com.