Nissan Motor Co. has unveiled an environmental action plan that calls for development of a fuel-cell vehicle by early next decade, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The Nissan Green Program 2010 focuses on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and exhaust emissions while accelerating recycling efforts. The company said carbon dioxide emissions have been added to its list of internal management performance indicators, along with quality, cost and time. It also plans to trim carbon dioxide emissions from its manufacturing plants by 7 percent by 2010, according to the Nashville Business Journal. Nissan officials say they believe the internal combustion engine will be the primary power source for vehicles for the foreseeable future, but that battery- or fuel cell-powered electric motors may ultimately replace the internal combustion engine. The company said that, by 2010, it hopes to develop a car that can travel 62 miles on less than a gallon of gasoline. The company also plans to launch an original hybrid vehicle by that year. Nissan's first hybrid, a version of the Altima sedan, is launching next year but uses a hybrid system developed by Toyota. Nissan also said it will develop a fuel cell vehicle by the early part of the next decade. Powered by hydrogen, fuel cells are considered a strong contender to power the vehicles of the future because their only emission is water vapor.
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