2008 Nissan Nuvu

Press release

WITHIN JUST A FEW YEARS, CITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL BE AT NEAR BURSTING POINT. IF MANKIND WANTS TO RETAIN THE LEVEL OF PERSONAL MOBILITY IT CURRENTLY ENJOYS – AND IF THE CITY IS TO SURVIVE – THE ONLY WAY FORWARD IS FOR A RADICAL RETHINK OF THE TYPE OF CARS DRIVEN THERE. ONE SOLUTION COULD BE A CAR LIKE NUVU, DESIGNED FOR THE CITY OF THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE.

“Nuvu is literally a ‘new view’ at the future of the city car. It is electric, of course, but as far as Nissan is concerned, for tomorrow’s city cars that is a given. No, the most important aspect of Nuvu is the interior design which provides great comfort and space in an intelligent package designed to make best use of our crowded roads and limited parking slots.”

There is about to be a seismic shift in the urban landscape. Within the next fi ve to seven years, some 55 percent of the world’s population will live in the city, threatening total gridlock. Unless something is done, the irony of the phrase ‘personal mobility’ will be self-evident.

Look around at the cars in a typical city traffi c jam today and the vast majority will have only one occupant and four empty seats. Some might have two occupants, a few three. But fi nd one with four occupants or more and you’ll be doing very well. Today, we buy a family car knowing that we’ll only ever need to use it to its full potential one or perhaps two percent of the time. Tomorrow, things will be different.

Tomorrow, things have to be different.

“There is a new generation coming up who, fi nally, are questioning why we do the things we do. They are asking themselves, for example, why they are buying a large car when they know that for 99 percent of the time they will be in it on their own,” says François Bancon, General Manager, Exploratory and Advance Planning Department, Product Strategy and Product Planning Division, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

“It is our job to provide personal transportation that is better suited to people’s needs and to what the environment – in all senses – can cope with.”

Nissan’s vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, a ‘new view’ of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade. Compact – it’s just 3 meters long – Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating. It is aimed at urban dwellers who don’t want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that ‘something has to give.’’

Nuvu is agile, easy to drive, even easier to park. And it is, of course, an electric vehicle (EV). As Bancon says: “We believe zero emission vehicles are one of the key solutions for tomorrow’s city car.”

Nuvu is described as a moving oasis, a haven of green tranquility in the urban jungle. To underline this message, Nuvu incorporates a witty representation of its green credentials: across its all-glass roof are a dozen or so small solar panels.

Shaped like leaves on a branch, the power they generate is fed to the battery using a ‘tree trunk’ within the car as a conduit. Nuvu also uses natural, organic and recycled materials within the cabin.

Nissan has already announced plans to introduce an all-electric car in Japan and the US in 2010 and to mass-market it globally in 2012. Nuvu is not that car, though it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle. Rather, it is a concept of how a Nissan EV might look in the near future.

In the longer term, Nissan foresees a future based around a line-up of zero emission vehicles regardless of their size, category and usage. Nuvu – or its production equivalent – is just one element of this emission-free future.