Technology developed by Nissan for the 100 percent electric Nissan LEAF will be used in an electric bus project that starts testing next month in Kumamoto City, Japan. The initiative has been undertaken by the Kumamoto University, which will work closely with the Government and the automotive industry towards reducing emissions from heavy vehicles.
A major obstacle in building large electric vehicles is high cost of development and parts such as batteries and electric motors. However, by using technology already conceived and perfected by Nissan, the cost of manufacturing electric buses can be greatly reduced. The bus, named “Yoka ECO Bus,” will feature three batteries, three electric motors and an inverter from its very own Nissan LEAF EV. To make this a reality, Nissan is also developing a dedicated gearbox for its electric bus.
“We hope to improve Japan’s environment by standardizing the manufacturing of EV buses with the help of know-how from automakers,” said Toshiro Matsuda, an associate professor at Kumamoto University and the project’s leader. “Our goal is to develop EV buses that are well-balanced in terms of being friendly to the environment and having low development costs.”
Nissan hopes that this initiative will be successful in creating environmentally friendly buses for public transportation systems in Japan, and eventually around the world.
