Nissan will begin accepting reservations for purchase of the 2011 Nissan Leaf on April 20th, with those who have signed up at NissanUSA to be first in line. In December, Nissan will make the car available for purchase or lease by consumers in select markets, with nationwide availability to be open in 2011. The reservation fee is $99, and is fully refundable. Reserving a Leaf grants consumers access to a place in line when the company begins taking firm orders for the car in August, and also nets them access to special Leaf-related events.

In California, which is likely to be the Leaf’s biggest market, the combined federal and state tax credits, which include a $5,000 state wide tax credit, will effectively decrease the total purchase price of the new electric car to the low-$20,000s, but consumers are advised to remember that said credits cannot be applied until tax time, and that they still need to pay the entire cost of the car up front, or arrange financing. Other states are also offering tax credits – such as a $1,500 credit in Oregon, and a $5,000 credit in Georgia, as well as allowing the Leaf to have access to the carpool lane, even if the only person inside the vehicle is the driver.

Standard features of the 2011 Nissan Leaf, at the SV trim level, include an advanced navigations system, Internet/smart phone connectivity, Bluetooth, push-buttong start, traction control and six airbags. For an additional $940, buyers can upgrade to the SL trim level, and gain a rearview monitor, automatic headlights, fog lights, and a solar panel spoiler.

As part of the purchase process for the Leaf, Nissan will also be offering personal charging docks, which operate on a 220-volt power supply, as well as their installation. These home-charging stations will be built and installed by AeroVironment, and is part of Nissan’s one-stop shopping process. A home assessment is included with the price.

According to HybridCars:

* The average cost for the charging dock plus installation will be $2,200.
* Charging dock and installation are eligible for a 50 percent federal tax credit up to $2,000.
* Using current national electricity averages, Nissan LEAF will cost less than $3 to “fill up.”
* Nissan LEAF also will be the sole vehicle available as part of The EV Project, which is led by EV infrastructure provider eTec, a division of ECOtality, and will provide free home-charging stations and installation for up to 4,700 Nissan LEAF owners in those markets:Phoenix/Tucson, San Diego, Portland/Salem/Eugene (OR), Seattle, Nashville/Knoxville.

The two-cylinder Twin-Air was unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva Auto Show, and will be used on 500 units of the automaker’s signature 500 minicar beginning in September. The choice to equip their trademark car with a new, superclean fuel engine is part of the company’s plan to increase emission reductions and remain one of the most eco-friendly carmakers in Europe, according to a statement made by brand head Lorenzo Sistino on Tuesday.

Sistino elaborated, “It has taken the car sector 15 years to cut CO2 emissions by 20 percent. With the new Twin-Air, the world’s most ecological fuel engine, Fiat will cut CO2 by a (further) 30 percent in one stroke.”

The Twin-Air uses improved technology to offer four-cylinder performance from a two-cylinder engine, and is just one more facet of the Italian auto company’s efforts to build and sell small, efficient, green cars that retain their brand’s style and flair.

“Twin-Air is another step ahead for eco-technology and can represent a giant leap for the environment,” Sistino said.

Speaking at an event on February 5 to promote the all-electric Nissan Leaf, Houston mayor Annise Parker said, “We are the Petro Metro, but we are also a car city. To have an electric vehicle that appeals to a car culture will make the real difference for market penetration.”

The Leaf, a five-passenger vehicle that can travel 100-miles on a single charge, hopes it will be that car, not just for Houston, but for other cities like San Francisco, that are actively forging alliances with car makers and power companies. These metropolitan areas don’t just want to bring EVs to their streets, they want to see electric charging stations to their street corners.

In Houston, Nissan has brokered a deal with both the city and Reliant Energy to construct public charging stations. These efforts are key in overcoming the doubts of would-be buyers fearful of being stranded with no juice under the hood.

General Motors will be debuting its much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt later this year, and partnerships like the one Nissan has struck with the city of Houston could be key to the car’s success. The Houston metropolitan area has about 4.5 million cars and trucks ticking off approximately 86 driving miles a day.

Promoting the EVs in tandem with charging stations is a win/win for all concerned. Thanks to the recession, power utilities in the United States have seen demand drop off about 5% over the past two years. Widespread adoption of electric vehicles serves multiple masters:

• It gives the auto industry exciting new products.
• Electric vehicles cater to environmental concerns.
• EVs will help lessen our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
• Charging stations will generate jobs in cities where they are located.
• Cities like Houston with air-quality problems will gain access to more federal funds if they can cut emissions.
• A new area of electrical use will reclaim some lost profits for the power utilities.

Critics of electrical vehicles have long pointed to the lack of infrastructure as a significant stumbling block to the cars’ practicality. Partnerships with cities and power companies who have their own problems to solve could make that criticism go away, and give products like the Leaf and the Volt the leg up they need to be real contenders in the world of alternative-powered vehicles.

Speaking in Orlando on Monday, February 15, 2010, the Texas billionaire emphasized natural gas as the first step toward energy independence for the nation. He, like many natural gas advocates, are counting on the Barnett Shale Formation of North Texas, a field spreading over a minimum of 17 counties, as the source of all that fuel.

In a story for Automotive News by Chrissie Thompson, Pickens is quoted. “I’m not here to sell the guys today on switching over to natural gas,” but then tailored most of his remarks to the National Automobile Dealers Association in that direction — with a sideline or two into saying electric powertrains would be okay too, but with an interesting caveat.

“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t get off Saudi oil and end up with a Chinese battery.”

These comments went along with predictions that the price of oil, currently at $77 a barrel, will hit $300 or even $400 in ten years time.

Pickens said he supports pending legislation in Congress that would grant tax credits of $65,000 on purchases of new heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks powered by natural gas.

The fact that Pickens made his money on oil and gas and is promoting natural gas as the alternative fuel of the future with a side dish of xenophobia is troublesome. Certainly the United States has a dangerous degree of dependence on foreign fuel, but energy isolationism is not the answer either.

Truth be told, a wide-range of alternative fuel vehicles are likely in our future, and “Chinese batteries” will play a role in that. There’s going to be a great deal of money to be made in the green economy of the future, but if that economy is run with nothing but the wildcat oil ethics of the last century, the problems will just shift from one commodity to another and no real progress will be made — environmentally or politically.

Vancouver is already home to Ballard Power Systems, which manufactures fuel cells, and it serves as the northern terminus of the “Hydrogen Highway” which runs up the west coast of North America. Given these two factors, it should come as no surprise that the Olympics and Paralympics are being used to showcase hydrogen fuel cell technology and vehicles.

How are they doing it? Well, there’s a fleet of 20 buses powered by fuel cells, and operated by BC Transit, in Whistler (site of many of the skiing events). The buses were built by New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg with fuel cells provided by the afore-mentioned Ballard, and hydrogen storage supplied by Calgary-based Dynetek Industries. The hybrid drive system came from ISE Corp, in California. Each of the low-floor buses has a top speed of roughly 55 mph, and can carry up to 60 people. Even better, these buses have zero tailpipe emissions, and are twice as efficient as their smelly diesel counterparts

BC Transit’s Whistler Transit Centre, which cost $89.5 million to build, is the world’s largest hydrogen refueling station, as well as being a joint venture between the governments of British Columbia, Canada, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association. In addition to the buses, there is also a fleet of eight Chevrolet Equinox SUVs, being used to ferry VANOC officials, media representatives, government officials, athletes, and other VIPS back and forth between Olympic venues. These Equinoxes were built by General Motors Canada.

Also provided by GM Canada is an extensive fleet of vehicles that includes several thousand fuel efficient Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles, over 30% of which sport green technology, like flex fuel or hybrid systems.

Clearly VANOC has gone for the gold when it comes to green tech at the Olympics.