Green Car Congress: Nissan Leases First Fuel Cell Vehicle in North America

Green Car Congress: Nissan Leases First Fuel Cell Vehicle in North America: "Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) has leased an X-TRAIL Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) to Sacramento (California) Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Inc. Nissan, which began development of fuel cell vehicle technology in 1996, has previously used FCVs in demonstration fleets in Japan and in California through the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), but this is Nissan’s first commercial FCV lease in North America. (Earlier post.) The Sacramento Coca-Cola lease is for one year, with an option for two additional years.

The X-TRAIL FCV is being used by the bottler for sales calls and public events in the Sacramento area in promotion of its Coca-Cola Zero soft drink. Sacramento-based Nissan X-TRAIL FCVs have already logged nearly 300,000 miles in ongoing internal tests, with one vehicle very close to the 100,000-mile mark.

The Nissan X-TRAIL FCV is based on the X-TRAIL SUV, which is available in Mexico, Japan and Europe. It is fitted with a Nissan-developed 90 kW compact fuel cell stack, a compact Lithium-ion battery and a high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinder. Performance is close to that of a similarly sized internal combustion engine-based vehicle. Versions of this generation X-TRAIL FCV are capable of speeds in excess of 95 miles per hour, with a cruising range of up to 300 miles."