Nissan may have fallen behind its close rivals in the race for the hybrid car market but they seem to be getting geared up to compete in the market for the next generation EVs. It’s not the first vehicle of its kind from the carmaker though; Nissan will be presenting the new electric concept car at New York Auto Show ’08.

Though the name of this EV shown above is yet unclear, right now it’s being called as the “Cube”. By 2010, the Cube will be available in America and Japan as a fleet vehicle. This fleet testing will continue for about couple of years and in 2012 the ‘Cube’ would be made available to individual buyers.

Nissan has partnered with the Japanese electric giant, NEC Corporation to make the ‘Cube’ a reality. The Cube small car will be powered by lithium ion batteries. Currently, a very similar model is available in Japan but only the next generation model of this vehicle would come to America. The New York Auto Show ’08 will put more light on Nissan’s EV but company officials have said that the next generation of EVs would be built on similar lines and styling as the ‘Cube’.

This new generation, eco-friendly Nissan will be capable of attaining a top speed of 75 mph with a range of 100 miles and will take about 8 hours to recharge. Though the ‘Cube’ looks very tardy and won’t add zilch to your image, it does do a lot for your ‘green image’.