Creating Greenest LEAF on road on The Murfreesboro Post

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Content Editor

Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2010 2:43 pm

Nissan LEAF

The Great Recession hasn’t dampened the spirits of Destination Rutherford.

The Chamber of Commerce initiative held an Investors Lunch on Thursday in Smyrna and touted the economic development in Rutherford County.

According to Destination Rutherford in 2009 five businesses relocated to Rutherford County and 39 businesses expanded their operations. The biggest expansion of all was Nissan North America’s planned $1.4 billion investment.

The automaker plans to retool and expand its factory by 1.3 million square feet for the production of the Nissan LEAF, a zero-emission electric vehicle, as well as lithium-ion batteries. The expansion will create around 1,700 jobs.

The first phase of the project will launch in late 2012 with the creation of approximately 1,300 new full-time jobs. Nissan also foresees a second phase of the project in early 2015 that will add another 400 additional new full-time jobs.

Production of Nissan’s new electric car, the LEAF, should begin in 2012.

“This is a real car, not a glorified golf cart,” explained Mark Swenson, Nissan’s vice president of Production Engineering. “The difference is you plug it in.”

Swenson outlined some of the features of the new electric vehicle, including its 100-mile range, 8-hour recharging time and room for five adults.

“It will go fast enough to get you a ticket,” Swenson said, adding the LEAF currently has a top speed of 90 mph.

More impressive is the miles per gallon. When calculated like an internal combustion engine, the LEAF is estimated to get 367 mpg, which is a significantly smaller carbon footprint than your average car.

In addition to the Green technology in the car, the Smyrna plant will also be refurbished to produce its own electricity with solar and wind power. The plant will also convert to a more environmentally friendly paint system.

The car itself will be 99 percent recyclable and the lithium-ion battery pack will be 100 percent recyclable.

Prices will be announced in April, but Swenson described it as “affordable.” Pre-orders will be available in the Southeast, Southwest and western U.S. in December and in the Northeast and Midwest in the summer of 2011.

The electric car won’t just revolutionize transportation, it will also create more than 10,708 jobs for suppliers and support services. The anticipated wages would be approximately $525 million and generate $11.3 million in new local taxes.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under Chamber of Commerce, LEAF, Nissan

Member Opinions:

By: thmcra09 on 2/25/10
sounds to good to be tuue, you know what that means.

By: thinkingman on 2/25/10
Not paying gas money to middle eastern countries that hate the USA sounds awfully good to me.