Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries by business 2009 as part of its efforts to catch up with rival automakers in developing eco-friendly vehicles such as gasoline-electric hybrid cars. Automotive Energy Supply Corp., a joint venture set up in April 2007 by Nissan, NEC Corp. and its subsidiary, NEC Tokin Corp., will take charge of production at a new production line to be built in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. The line's initial annual output capacity is estimated at 13,000 units.

New Transistor Uses A Material Known As Gallium Nitride Washington: Every household is filled with dozens of silicon-based electronics, whose main component is usually a silicon-based transistor. But now, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student's invention could replace this technology with a new generation of transistors that will not only cut energy consumption but also work under extreme conditions.

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) President and CEO Masahiro Takedagawa, in an interview with Swaraj Baggonkar, shares the company's India strategy, including the launch of hybrid technology (a first on Indian roads), small cars and outlook on diesel technology, an area where the company is losing ground to other auto majors. The company launched its 8th generation Accord today in Mumbai. Honda lacks a diesel car in India, a market where more than 40 per cent of vehicles sold run on the fuel. Comment.

French transport minister Dominique Bussecreau, who is currently visiting Delhi, today called on the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at her office at Delhi Secretariat here. Dominique said that France was keen to have technical co-operation and collaborations in various fields with the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

DETROIT: Nissan Motor plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010, raising the stakes in the race to develop environmentally friendly vehicles. The commitment is the first by a major automaker to bring a zero-emission vehicle to the U.S. market. Nissan also expects to sell a lineup of electric vehicles globally by 2012.

German carmaker Volkswagen and Japan's Sanyo Electric Co will jointly develop a lithium-ion bat tery to be used in hybrid and electric cars, the Nikkei Financial Daily reported on Sunday. Volkswagen will aim to start importing and using the battery in its hybrid and electric cars by 2012, the Nikkei said. Sanyo makes nickel-hydrogen batteries that can be recharged repeatedly and Volkswagen and subsidiary Audi AG in the Volkswagen Group's first hybrid model to be rolled out as early as next year will use the batteries.

Fuel-efficient and low on emissions, hybrid cars are the vehicles of the future

As separation pangs hit the electric vehicle joint venture between Hero Group and Ultra Motors, the Delhi High Court has restrained the UK-based firm from selling competing electric two-wheelers for a period of 180 days starting April 23. Responding to a petition filed by Hero Cycles, which sought to restrain Ultra Motors India Ltd (UMIL) from selling electric vehicles and kits in India, a high court Bench restrained UMIL "from offering for sale or attempting to market any products defined in the agreement' for the period.

ALMOST without exception, scientists and policy makers agree that hybrid vehicles are good for the planet. To a small but insistent group of skeptics, however, there is another, more immediate question: Are hybrids healthy for drivers? There is a legitimate scientific reason for raising the issue. The flow of electrical current to the motor that moves a hybrid vehicle at low speeds (and assists the gasoline engine on the highway) produces magnetic fields, which some studies have associated with serious health matters, including a possible risk of leukemia among children.

MELBOURNE is set to become the new production home of Toyota's hybrid Camry, with negotiations between Australia and Japan likely to conclude by mid-year. While the high-level talks are not yet wrapped up, sources have told The Age that senior Toyota executives in Tokyo are now strongly behind making the company's Altona plant the regional production base for the green Camry, provided the right government incentives are secured.