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Nissan Cube Electric Vehicle Prototype

By David Booth, National Post Detroit• Were this just Nissan’s beginning of a comprehensive electric vehicle program that includes various types of hybrids and Chevy Volt-like extended-range electric vehicles as well as the pure electric vehicle (EV) that is being shown here in suburban Detroit, I would stand up and applaud — the prototype Cube EV I drove around a parking lot is absolutely brilliant. Though Nissan provided few specifics — the manufacturer of the prototype’s electric motor is not divulged, and even its 80-kilowatt output is open to conjecture — the Cube EV is an impressive piece of kit, pointing to just how close the automaker really is to selling a mass-produced electric vehicle. Compared with other EVs, the Cube prototype is a model of sophistication. For one thing, the power delivery is linear, with none of the fits and burps of some of the less developed electric cars I’ve driven. The Cube EV is also astonishingly quiet, naturally devoid of the various valves and piston clattering of the traditional internal combustion engine, but also of the high-pitched whine that has been present in varying degrees in every other electric car I’ve tested. Not only is the engine impressive, but so are the ancillaries. For instance, release the “gas” pedal and the Cube EV slows appropriately, just like a traditional car. That might not sound like much, but the Mini E felt like somebody had clamped on the binders and thrown out an anchor every time I so much as let up on the throttle. Similarly, the Cube EVs braking system, which regenerates some of its stopping force into electrical energy to recharge the batteries, feels completely conventional rather than the abrupt step in braking power that usually...

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