NYPD boys in blue will be driving green.

The Big Apple has bought 40 Nissan Altima hybrid cars to be used as patrol cars for the city’s finest. Instead of patrolling the streets at 16mpg in Impalas (hey GM! Are you still wondering why you are having financial problems?) the boys and girls will be getting 35mpg in their hybrids.

Of course, the city had to pay about $1500 more for each of the hybrid cars. It’ll take 2-3 years for the city to get its money back in gas savings depending on actual mileage and gas prices.

Nissan Altima for the NYPD

NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said:

“Through savings in fuel, these Altimas can quickly cover their additional cost, from then they will save taxpayers money – another example of how going green is good for our environment and our pocketbooks.”

So, Mike, why stop at 40 cars?

Nissan? Why not give the city a break and ask them to pay you back in 2-3 years once the money has been saved?

[via TreeHugger]

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Nissan Motor Co. announced on Monday that it is planning to mass-produce automotive lithium ion batteries in Portugal come 2012. About the same time, Nissan intends to manufacture electric vehicles globally at full clip.

Nissan has signed an agreement with the Portuguese government to construct a plant. Nissan will be the first Japanese automotive firm to produce next-generation batteries overseas.

They will supply lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles for its own cars and its French partner, Renault SA. Nissan will start rolling out electric vehicles next year in Japan and the U.S. global mass production will begin in 2012.

Terms are still being hammered out. In the meantime, there are lots of Portugese studying Japanese hoping for a job. And, Nissan is making progress toward cutting emissions in its cars.

Source (sub req)

Last week in San Francisco I got to see another car of the future, always in the future that is. Part of Nissan’s Green Program the FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) is not only eco-friendly, but also looks pretty good. Right? Meanwhile you can read more about Nissan’s Green Program 2010 and some of their Environmental Activities.

Japanese carmakers, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are still going green. All the while, GM and America’s car makers have their hands out.

In separate events -

Nissan announced it was redesigning its Cube subcompact in hopes of moving in on the Japanese fetish for small cars that save on the miles. Nissan will sell the car around the world, not just in Japan as before. North America will see the car in spring of ‘09 ad Europe will see their version later in the year. The price – $14,000ish.

Meanwhile – Honda is debuting a gas-saving drive support system for its hybrid Insight coming out next spring also. With the flip of a switch, the driver can:

1. switch to Econ mode to ease the burden on the engine,
2. extend the time of the “idling stop,” which halts the engine when the vehicle stops,
3. incorporate a function that turns down the air conditioning,
4. boost the efficiency of “regeneration”.

The Insight’s speedometer will indicate fuel conservation – green for high efficiency and blue for high fuel consumption. Problem that those in Japan can identify with – blue is green.

The Paris Motor Show is ongoing as I write in Europe’s love capital and we have some juicy news from Nissan who decided to surprise us all today. Nissan Nuvu is the latest concept car announced by the Japanese carmaker, an electric car that will revolutionize urban transportation in … 2015.

Why can’t we get our hands on this tiny car faster? Why do we need to wait 7 more years? Because Nissan already has an all-electric car for us rolling out in a couple of years. More precisely in 2010.

Less than three meters long, the new Nissan Nuvu – which translates into “new view”, is capable to seat three but we’re not betting our money on comfort here. It should also be really quiet because it’s electric and it uses recycled or made from organic cabin materials. I’d sure like to take it for a quick spin, even though I weigh more than it does.

Check out more pictures after the break. (more…)