YOKOHAMA — Nissan Motor Co. on Sunday unveiled its new electric vehicle, the Leaf, which the automaker wants to start selling next year in Japan, the United States and Europe in its quest to become the leader in zero-emission cars.
To mass produce the medium-size Leaf by 2012, Nissan has said it will carry a reasonable sticker price in comparison with gasoline-powered cars.
The Leaf will go up against Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s i-MiEV electric minivehicle, which heated up the country's market for environmentally friendly cars when it debuted in June. But the i-MiEV at ¥4.6 million costs much more than gasoline-electric hybrid cars.