Nissan Motor Co. unveiled its first electric vehicle in Japan on Sunday, a car to be mass produced with an affordable price for consumers in the Japanese, American and European markets, the firm said in a statement.

The electric vehicle named Leaf is designed to run with a lithium-ion battery pack and deliver a range of more than 100 miles when its battery is fully charged, a range that according to Nissan, satisfies the daily driving requirements of more than 70 percent of the world’s drivers.

It’s the first step in what is sure to be an exciting journey – for people all over the world, for Nissan and for the industry,” Nissan's Chief Executive officer Carlos Ghosn said, according to a statement from the automaker.

The car's battery can be fast-charged up to 80 percent of its full capacity in less than 30 minutes and at home with a 200V outlet in eight hours, according to Nissan.

Nissan will manufacture the car at Oppama, Japan with additional production capacity planned for Tennessee in the U.S.

It will launch the car in late 2010 in the U.S., Japan and Europe and expects to produce about 200,000 units a year at the global roll out in 2012, Reuters reported.

Nissan did not unveil pricing for the car but said it would be within the range of a comparable well equipped gasoline-engine car excluding the battery which the company is considering leasing, Reuters reports, citing Ghosn's comments on Sunday. The car's price won't be unveiled until late 2010, the firm noted.

Among its features, the Leaf has an IT system that displays the car's remaining power and nearby charging stations. The car also allows owners to control certain of the car's functions with mobile phones.

The car was unveiled at the inauguration of the firm's new global headquarters in Yokohama, Tokyo on Sunday.

Japan Tennessee