Nissan mobility concept (2010): it's Nissan's Twizy

You'd be forgiven for thinking we'd mistitled a story about the Renault Twizy. It's not - take another look and you'll spot important differences. Like a Nissan badge. To all intents and purposes, this is the Nissan Twizy.

Called Nissan's new mobility concept, it's the most blatant example of badge engineering we've yet seen at the alliance. The Nissan Twizy is of course fully electric and has zero tailpipe emissions.

Its 15kW electric motor offers a range of some 60 miles and it'll go on sale in Europe in autumn 2011. 

Nissan's Twizy: the masterplan

It's all part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance drive towards a connected, and largely electric, future mobility. Their 'futurologists' envisage a world with linked public transport, electric vehicles and 'two-mode EV car sharing', where the vehicle is used as a private commuter in the morning and evening and as a corporate car during the day.

Nissan will launch the Leaf, the first 100% electric, mass-marketed, zero-emission car, in December 2010 in Japan and the United States, and in early 2011 in Europe.

It now looks as though Nissan will augment the Leaf with some of the Renault electric models we've seen in the past year. The Twizy goes on sale in the UK in 2012 and is going to cost around £5500. Just goes to show that electric cars needn't break the bank.