Nissan's electric vehicle tilts into corners
Oct 07 22:54 - AP - AP Wire Service
By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
ATSUGI, Japan (AP) _ Nissan's Land Glider electric vehicle tilts
from side to side, sashaying into curves by up to a 17-degree
angle, as though showing off in a fashion statement that it's
zero-emissions.
The wheel segments of the car can move separately from the cabin
part, allowing the car, still an experimental concept model, to
sway and swerve, almost like a motorcycle.
Nissan Motor Co. project design director Takashi Nakjima says
Land Glider is designed to be a ``personal city commuter.''
In a demonstration for reporters, the car glided around on a
test course at Nissan's design center, outside Tokyo, leaning
slowly to one side, and then the other, as it turned tight corners.
Just 110 centimeters (43 inches) wide, Land Glider has sensors
to calculate speed and level of lean required for corners, and can
maneuver through narrow streets and fit into tight parking spaces,
according to Yokohama-based Nissan.
People aboard sit in a line, one behind the other, not next to
each other as in traditional two-seaters.
Reporters got a preview look, but no test drive, of the Land
Glider, which will have its world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show,
opening to media Oct. 21, two days before its formal opening. The
show runs through Nov. 4 in the Tokyo suburb of Chiba.
Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are also
showing nifty electric vehicles at the show.
Toyota's FT-EV II has a roomy cube design, a relatively
conventional look for electric cars. But Honda's EV-N is small and
cute with an intentionally old-fashioned car shape.
``We feel exploratory efforts in electric vehicles have entered
a new stage,'' with Land Glider, Nakajima said.
AP-ES-10-07-09 2254EDT
Almost a Motorcycle 
Linear Mode
