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Nissan unveiled an electric lunar rover jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at the Futures event in Yokohama, Japan. The prototype has AWD technology that will soon be included in certain models of the Nissan Ariya.
Nissan Motor Corporation has been in business since the s in Japan and has established itself as a globally recognized automaker behind brands such as Infiniti and Datsun, in addition to its namesake.
The company was an early promoter of electric vehicles with its Nissan LEAF, one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the world… especially before the Model came out. Since then, however, Nissan has ta Caseno Email List ken the foot of the accelerator in terms of electric vehicle manufacturing. At least until recently.
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In July , Nissan announced an all-electric crossover called the Ariya, which was recently launched in the US. The announcement was soon accompanied by the news that Nissan had joined the UN's "Race to Zero" campaign, with the goal of achieving % electric vehicles by the s.
With a new “ Ambition ” electric vehicle roadmap recently released publicly, Nissan seems to have found that EV spark it had at the beginning with its LEAF EV.
On top of that, Nissan has now revealed that it has been working on technologies outside of combustion and potentially outside of this atmosphere, together with JAXA, to show off the new Electric Lunar Rover.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hub Center has been conducting research on lunar rovers for future space exploration, most recently with the help of Nissan and its AWD technology designed for the Ariya.
Electric lunar rover prototype has four independently controlled wheels
In a press release coinciding with its Nissan Futures event, the automaker revealed that it has been working with JAXA on the rover prototypes since January
With a specific focus on helping JAXA's electric lunar rover traverse the complicated terrain of the lunar surface, Nissan applied its e-FORCE all-wheel control technology. Nissan explained that it developed these drive force controls to minimize the amount of wheel spin as it relates to various surface conditions.
e-ORCE technology enables precise control of all four wheels independently, navigating sandy and rocky terrain that the electric lunar rover may one day experience on Earth.
All while remaining energy efficient in a situation that allows limited space for energy storage. JAXA Director of the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, Ikkoh Funaki spoke about the joint development research with Nissan:
«JAXA aims to apply the research results to future space exploration. We collaborate with universities, companies, and research institutes on viable projects with commercialization and innovation potential. “By conducting research with Nissan, which has experience in electrified technologies, we hope to apply our findings to the development of higher-performance lunar rovers.”
Nissan's e-ORCE technology may never operate on the surface of the moon, but it will soon be available to consumers in the top-tier version of the Ariya EV. The Platinum + Ariya features dual motors, of which the individual torque of each can be controlled independently, providing more traction during acceleration.
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