From Guest Blogger Jordan: Will the Nissan BladeGlider Go Into Production Soon?

Nissan has been committed to the development of electric vehicle technology in efforts to contribute to reducing the negative impact that motor vehicle emissions have on the environment, and respond to the increasing interest in eco-friendly vehicles among consumers. The Japanese car maker is one of the leaders in the electric car market, with its Leaf hatchback as one of world’s best-selling fully-electric vehicles, a fact that has encouraged the company to try and develop commercial vehicles and sports cars that are exclusively powered by electricity.

The e-NV200 van, which is supposed to be available for purchase pretty soon, is the result of Nissan’s efforts to get into the electric commercial vehicle segment, and as far as the electric sports car segment is concerned, Nissan hopes to enter it with the recently unveiled BladeGlider. The BladeGlider concept had its world premiere at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, and it left an extraordinary impression with its unusual exterior design, resembling a fighter jet, which is the reason why many people didn’t believe that it will ever see the light of day, but Nissan is confident that it will hit the production line in a few years.

Although the BladeGlider looks very unconventional, both inside and out, and despite the fact that it’s equipped with some very sophisticated technology that is too expensive to implement in a mass-produced model, the car maker insists that it will be able to build a production version of it by 2015. This three-seater has an extremely aerodynamic shape, with a front end that is much narrower than the rear, and one front seat along with two backseats, that makes for a 30:70 front-to-rear weight distribution. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that is mounted near the rear end, which supplies power to the electric motors that are installed in each rear wheel.

The BladeGlider’s cabin is just as futuristic and unconventional as the car’s exterior. It comes with a steering wheel that looks like the control columns that can be found in aircrafts, and a driver’s seat that slides automatically once you open the butterfly doors, so that passengers can access the rear seats more easily.

Ben Bowlby, Nissan’s motorsport innovation director, who designed the BladeGlider, says that it is the “nicest-handling car you will ever drive”, thanks to the narrow front end and the favorable weight distribution.

Nissan hopes that this car will be appealing to young drivers, since it has some very attractive design features and it can provide an extremely exciting ride, but it’s also very efficient and doesn’t release any CO2 emissions that are harmful to the environment, which is exactly what young people want in cars nowadays. But, it will also have to be affordable, which might be the biggest challenge that Nissan will have to overcome. As far as the production stage is concerned, Andy Palmer, Nissan’s vice president and product planning chief said that it should become a reality in the near future, and that it is in their “mid-term” plan.