Dalian's Dongfeng Nissan EV taxi fleet officially begins operation

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 10) - The first five Dongfeng Nissan Leaf pure electric taxis in Dalian, Liaoning have officially begun operation, jfdaily.com reported today. The Leaf is the city's first EV taxi. According to Dongfeng Nissan Deputy General Manager Ren Yong, 1,000 EVs from Dongfeng Nissan's own brand Venucia will also be incorporated into Dalian's public transportation fleet before 2014. The joint venture will gather statistics from the vehicles' service in order to improve its overall EV technology.

Dongfeng Nissan and the city of Dalian have signed an agreement to test the joint venture's new energy vehicles in the city's public transportation fleet. The goal of the cooperation is to promote usage of new energy automobiles in Dalian. According to the agreement, Dongfeng Nissan will supply 1,000 more pure EVs from its Venucia own brand before the end of next year. The vehicles will be used as government cars, taxis and rentals.

The Leaf (pictured) is Nissan's first mass-produced pure EV to be brought to China. The Leaf is the first pure EV to earn five stars in the E-NCAP crash test. It is powered by a state of the art lithium battery which can be charged to 80 percent capacity in just thirty minutes. The Leaf can be driven for up to 160 km on a single charge. Over 50,000 Leafs have been sold to date worldwide.