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Tokyo video: Nissan Land Glider
21 October 2009
This is the Nissan Land Glider, a two-seat electric car that the company insists “should not be regarded as a mere design study.”
The Land Glider is a serious indication of Nissan’s intent to build an urban commuter car, following the likes of the Renault Twizy and Peugeot BB1.
See the hi-res Nissan Land Glider picture gallery
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Future city dwellers will want a small, convenient, easy-to-drive-and-park runabout that takes up little road space. The Land Glider, it says, gives "a clear direction to how a future small car from Nissan could look in congested cities”.
Unveiled at the Tokyo motor show, the battery powered, super slim Land Glider has four wheels and two tandem seats with the passenger seated behind the driver, motorbike style. It is 3100mm long and 1415mm high, but just 1100mm wide.
It tilts through corners up to an angle of 17 degrees, and Nissan says the car is designed serve up some of the fun and agility of a bike.
On the move, the Land Glider uses sensors to check vehicle speed, steering angle and yaw rate and works out the angle of lean needed to negotiate a curve. The entire car, including the tyres, tilts into the corner - all the driver does is turn the handlebar-style wheel and the Land Glider reacts.
Powering the car two electric motors mounted in the rear, fed by a lithium-ion battery pack mounted beneath the floor. The car also features a novel car-robotics style crash avoidance system that'll steer it automatically away from other vehicles or obstacles.
Peter Nunn/Dan Stevens
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