What is the Nissan Pivo2 concept really about?

Beneath the Nissan Pivo2 show car’s swivelling cabin and shopping trolley wheels, the three-seater showcases Nissan’s latest battery technology – which will be ready for production in 2010.

An all electric vehicle, the Pivo2 features the latest lithium-ion batteries. Each cell is about the size of a sheet of A4 card. Eight of these sheets then make up one lap-top sized battery. In the Pivo2, 24 of these 2kg battery modules are fitted beneath the cabin floor.

Nissan says the strength of its batteries is that they don’t get too hot and are relatively cheap to produce. What’s more they offer up to twice the energy density of a conventional cylindrical battery. The new energy cells have a five year life, after which they are fully recyclable.

While the Pivo2 city car has a theoretical range of only 62 miles, Nissan is committed to having an electric only model in its showrooms by 2010. But what if you need greater flexibility than a plug-in city car can deliver? The firm recognises electric-only models won’t be practical for everyone, so it will also produce a new hybrid model in 2010.

Details of the hybrid are still top secret, but it’s likely to be a standalone model like Toyota’s Prius.

The Japanese firm says it has been committed to delivering the best possible low emission powertrain possible, keen to come late to the market with the right solution rather than be there first with an electric vehicle or hybrid that offers few real advantages.

While Nissan is also eager to point out that the Pivo2 is built to “inspire” rather than to point towards a new production model, but the show car is certainly drawing the crowds in Tokyo. Visitors can’t take their eyes of its unique wheel design – which allows it to crab sideways as well as drive forwards – and love its dash mounted robot, which monitors the mood and emotions of the driver.