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Nissan has called for Government help to kick-start the UK's shift to zero-emission fuels. The firm has a range of eco projects set to launch in the next eight years, from hybrids through to electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell models.
A plug-in electric vehicle should be ready by 2010 for Japanese and American markets, but only Denmark, Israel and Portugal will follow shortly afterwards because it's their governments that have offered the necessary incentives to boost interest.
"The conditions need to be right," a Nissan spokeswoman told BusinessCar. "There are conversations with the UK Government about how to make the UK the number one choice for Nissan putting electric vehicles into Europe."
The same is true of hydrogen fuel cell tech, currently on track to be ready for a 2015 launch.
"We need government standards and a fuel strategy," said Brian Johnston, senior project engineer on the US-based fuel cell programme, who also admitted there were major hurdles to overcome.
"Issues for commercialisation? The first three are cost, cost and cost," he said. "Then range issues become more of a concern." At the moment, the firm's development fuel cell X-trail has a real-world range of 250 miles per tank, less than half the distance Nissan is targeting by 2015.
Conversations about whether Nissan or its upmarket luxury offshoot brand Infiniti would be first to offer hydrogen fuel cell models are ongoing.
"The only way to truly reduce CO2 impact is not selling cars [just] into the niche market - you've got to get these cars out to the masses," said Johnston. That could include licencing the technology to other makers, which would increase volumes and thus reduce cost and create greater demand for an infrastructure.
"We're monitoring what other manufacturers are doing and talking to the fuel companies to co-ordinate a strategy," said Johnston.
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