While Portland, Ore. may be the place where the dream of the 1990s is still very much alive and well, the 21st century — and Nissan — is bringing the city’s electric company up to date as far as electric vehicles are concerned.
Autoblog Green reports the automaker has enlisted Portland General Electric to help in a six-week trial of its e-NV200 electric van, recording data to help better determine the EV’s viability in the United States commercial vehicle market, as explained by Nissan Director of U.S. EV Marketing Toby Perry:
Oregon has been a top five market for Nissan LEAF sales in the U.S. due to proactive policies at the state level to encourage EV adoption, as well as robust charging infrastructure championed by the state and others like PGE. If we determine that e-NV200 fits into the U.S. commercial vehicle market, we expect that Portland would be a leading driver for sales as well.
Nissan is deploying two e-NV200s along the West Coast and within the Beltway, partnering with companies like PGE and FedEx to further its market research. Currently, the PGE project has placed the EV with an underground crew, swapping places with a large diesel van for the six weeks the research will be conducted. The e-NV200 will go on sale in Europe later this summer, and in Japan later in the year.
How I’d dearly love to have an EV version of the NV200 or Transit Connect.
I don’t give a rat’s ass about greenie priorities, I’d just be tickled pink to have a SWB tall hauler that’s silent and never poos on the garage floor.
The low operational costs will be impressive, but they’ll need to manage the range carefully. The Leaf is a wonderful vehicle, but its guess-o-meter isn’t a very accurate gas gauge.
At least it doesnt look like complete rubbish. Syke!
FedEx already uses a unique electric van in Chicago made by Navistar, similar to what is already available in Europe. They actually look pretty good and have fantastic visibility.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-05/fedexs-electric-vehicle-experiment