“Symbiosis of People, Vehicles and Nature" Philosophy Expresses Nissan’s Vision of Reducing the Environmental Impact of Sustainable Mobility
Nissan Sets Green Goals: Reduction, Protection and Recycling
As part of Nissan's determined and focused efforts to address environmental issues, the company has long provided customers with innovative products designed with a goal of reducing their “real world” environmental impact. By advancing the development of sustainable mobility, Nissan is furthering its global corporate goal of reducing the use of resources and the environmental impact caused by its corporate activities and customer use of Nissan vehicles to levels that the Earth can naturally absorb.
To achieve this goal, Nissan has set three environmental priorities:
- Reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
- Protection of the air, water and soil by attaining cleaner emissions
- Recycling of resources
Nissan has set ultimate, measurable targets for each of these issues, and efforts are being intensified to achieve them. For example, reduction of CO2 emissions is emphasised as the company's top priority in Nissan's medium-term environmental action plan, Nissan Green Program 2010. Concrete CO2 reduction targets for the year 2010, as well as measures for attaining them, are specifically identified in the plan. Nissan is steadily moving ahead with concerted efforts to attain those goals.
Reduction of CO2 Emissions
Nissan has created a long-term roadmap to help curb atmospheric emissions of CO2, recognised as a principal cause of global warming, through the implementation of technologies focused toward that end. Nissan aims to roll out such technologies and products to effectively reduce CO2 emissions based on the philosophy of “providing the right technology to the right market at the right time and with the right value to the customer.”
It is Nissan's corporate belief that internal combustion (IC) engines (gasoline and diesel) will continue to be the mainstream power source of vehicles globally in the short-to-medium term. To help reduce CO2, emissions, Nissan is promoting the early and widespread application of technologies for improving the fuel economy of IC engines.
Nissan is also intensifying its efforts to develop electric-powered vehicle (EV) technology to help advance the widespread use of EVs over the long term. Nissan plans to introduce electric vehicles starting in Japan during the early part of the next decade.
Improving Internal Combustion Engine Environmental Performance: Variable Valve Event and Lift (VVEL) System
Nissan's Variable Valve Event and Lift (VVEL) system is a new technology that dramatically improves both power output and environmental performance, combining increased throttle response and greater torque with lower fuel consumption and cleaner emissions. While an ordinary engine controls the intake air mass by means of the throttle valve, the VVEL system controls the intake air mass directly via the intake valves. That is accomplished by variably controlling the event angle and lift of the intake valves continuously, according to the pressure applied to the accelerator.
Combining the VVEL system with continuously variable valve timing control (C-VTC) makes it possible to control valve lift, event angle and phase simultaneously to achieve highly flexible management of valve timing and lift. This dramatically improves intake air response, as well as reducing intake air resistance (pumping loss), thereby optimally improving both power output and environmental performance. The VVEL system has been applied to the VQ37VHR engine used in the Skyline Coupe in Japan and the globally marketed Infiniti G37 Coupe.
Clean Diesel Vehicles
As part of the Nissan Green Program 2010, Nissan announced that it would begin introducing clean diesel vehicles in Japan, North America and China by fiscal year 2010. These new clean diesel engines will comply with future exhaust emission regulations in these markets. In Japan, a new clean diesel engine is scheduled for introduction in the X‑TRAIL SUV in autumn 2008. In the U.S., a clean diesel engine that complies with the Tier 2 Bin 5 requirements is scheduled to be available on the 2010 Maxima.
Cleaner Emissions
Nissan has consistently designed and manufactured its vehicles to attain the cleanest possible levels of exhaust emissions, and meet stringent in-house standards and targets based on future market requirement predictions. Nissan is currently researching and developing technologies for controlling exhaust emissions to the same levels as the atmospheric content.
As of May 2006, 80% of all the new gasoline-fuelled Nissan cars sold in Japan have been certified as Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (SU-LEVs*). Nissan estimates that the resulting effect on reducing exhaust emissions is virtually the same as if electric vehicles and other clean cars accounted for 40% of the company's unit sales volume in Japan.
*SU-LEVs emit 75% fewer oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions than vehicles complying with Japan’s 2005 exhaust emission regulations.
**The recyclability rate is calculated based on the guideline issued by Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. in 1998 concerning the definition and method of calculating the recyclability rate of new cars.
Recycling of Resources
Along with reducing (CO2) emissions and protecting the air, water and soil by attaining cleaner emissions in general, Nissan promotes the effective recycling of the finite resources from which vehicles are made by designing easy-to-recycle vehicle structures and by maximising the effective use of those resources.
Beginning with the Nissan March (released in fiscal year 2001) and continuing with the Cube, Lafesta and all new models launched since 2005, 95% of the vehicle parts have been recyclable**. In fiscal year 2006, the effective recycling rate for end-of-life Nissan vehicles reached 95.2% by weight. Not content with even that high percentage, Nissan is pushing ahead with activities designed to further advance recycling standards in the coming years.
Electric-Powered Vehicle Technologies Utilised on the Pivo 2 Concept:
Compact Lithium-Ion Battery
The key components for promoting widespread use of electric-powered vehicles are the battery, motor and the inverter that controls the motor. Nissan's compact lithium-ion battery technology, one of the company's traditional strengths, provides batteries with twice as much energy compared with a conventional cylindrical battery of the same type, while ensuring safer operation due to the use of chemically stable spinal-structured manganese for the electrode material. In order to better leverage Nissan's lithium-ion battery capabilities, a new company was recently jointly established with NEC Corporation – with the goal of dramatically enhancing future battery performance and reducing battery costs. Nissan will implement field tests of EV by FY2010 prior to product launch with a target of early next decade.
3D Motor
Nissan is developing a new disc-type motor that achieves a dramatic increase in power density over conventional motors. This improvement stems from the optimised layout of magnets and electromagnets, along with high-efficiency multiphase current control. Another advantage of the 3D motor is its thin disc shape, which means it can be housed inside a wheel assembly. This facilitates “human maximum/mechanical minimum” vehicle designs, such as the advanced Pivo and Pivo 2 Concepts, that allow the passenger space to be utilised with maximum efficiency.
Compact Inverter
Nissan is developing a significantly smaller inverter, which achieves a substantial reduction in size, higher efficiency, and also allows it to be integrated with the motor.
Please visit the following website for more detailed information about Nissan's environmental activities: http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/ENVIRONMENT/.
