The 2001 NISSAN ALTRA EV- Only in the Sun Belt could I be driving during the first week of the new millenium with the windows down, enjoying the January sun. The all-new Nissan Altra EV electric vehicle zipped right along in LA freeway traffic, feeling right at home at the 75 mph average speed. When a merge was in order, Altra responded. If a little acceleration was called for to keep from being squeezed, even at this speed it was on tap.LA is a combination of the best place and the worst place for an EV. The weather, pollution concerns and corporate support all make them a viable solution, and if kept to surface streets, they could get you anywhere in town. Hundreds of charging stations exist, and some are free for business patrons and employees.

The Nissan Altra EV is a sophisticated real-world transportation alternative for today's environmentally conscious consumer .

The lightweight, energy-efficient Li-ion batteries are in a module of eight cells that weighs approximately 800 pounds, keeping the vehicle weight around 4500 lbs. Altra is the first production EV in the United States to use Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, the same superior power source used in notebook computers and video recorders. Nissan and Sony jointly developed the advanced Li-ion battery of the Altra EV for superior energy density, delivering greater energy from a smaller, lighter battery pack. These batteries are rated at 90 watt-hours per kilogram - about three times the energy density of conventional lead-acid batteries and more than 50 percent greater than nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. The Hitachi built Li-ion battery has a five-hour charge period and allows accurate state-of-charge measurement, without the "memory effects" of lead-acid and Ni-MH batteries .

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GM, Honda, Toyota and now Nissan have all introduced their EVs to CA and AZ, and Ford is coming aboard with a variety of community and city configured vehicles. The 'big three' offer pickups and minivans for commercial or government use, but those are even more limited in range and application. GM and Honda have both dropped their vehicles, GM only weeks after announcing their 'next generation' EV1 Plus, and they probably correctly justified the decision by stating that they had garnered all the benefits they could from the real world exposure. When electric vehicles were lobbied for by the earth shoes crowd, they decried the piston engine, claiming that everyone should be responsible and drive these machines. It turned out that they apparently meant everyone else, since when I attended an 'Earth First' rally recently where the EVs were prominently displayed, the parking lot was filled with large older American cars that pump out tens of times the emissions of a modern Viper or Escalade.

IAltra EV was engineered at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan, and designed to combine the versatility of a minivan with the environmental benefits of an EV. The four-passenger Nissan electric sedan is as roomy inside as any minivan, and does not have the clumsiness of layout that many other engineer designed electric cars exhibit. Altra was designed for people of American stature, and has room for the things we lug around with us. The styling matches future trends where tall and functional outweighs low and sleek, yet it is designed with aerodynamic efficiency in mind, and has a smooth exterior.

ANissan uses an inductive charging paddle, the same system used by General Motors, while Ford and Honda use a conductive plug for their vehicles. Nissan points out that their charging system allows the Altra EV to be recharged through electromagnetic induction rather than through direct contact, but that is a questionable benefit. The biggest problem of having two standards is that there has to be a complex infrastructure to support two types of charging stations, and the electric car industry is too small to support such confusion.

The Altra EV is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor and a 32-bit high-speed RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) motor controller processor: The motor features a compact design; yet, it generates maximum power of 62 kilowatts or 83 horsepower and maximum torque of 117 ft-lbs. The unique magnetic circuitry and lightweight design (approximately 85 pounds) of the Altra EV motor make it possible to achieve a high overall energy efficiency of approximately 90 percent under ordinary driving conditions. Because the motor is capable of operating at an ultra-high speed of 13,000 rpm, it was possible to reduce the motor weight 40 percent compared to conventional induction motors. JH/AutoNetDirect.com

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