The battery in an electric car is one of the most expensive components. It may also be one of the aspects that is keeping electric cars from becoming as popular as they could be in the mainstream auto industry. Consumers are concerned about the high bill of replacing the battery if it becomes damaged, stolen or if it simply wears out.

But with the 2010 Nissan Leaf on its way to auto dealers across the nation in the next couple years, Nissan-Renault wants to assure buyers that they are in store for an affordable car. At $30,000, it’s a great deal as long as consumers do not get stuck with the cost of replacing a battery for whatever reason. The reason Nissan can price the Leaf so low, however, is because the automaker may separate the price of the vehicle from the price of the battery.

Leasing batteries makes perfect sense. It gives the consumer more options when purchasing their vehicle and makes the battery aspect more affordable. But plans are not finalized as some officials are concerned that consumers want only one payment instead of two or three when buying a car.

We will keep an eye on this developing story in the months to come in case Nissan reaches a final decision on the matter.

Inverters are used to convert direct current from the propulsion battery to the motor in an electric car or hybrid vehicle. The new inverters will shrink 15 percent in size and 20 percent in weight, allowing Nissan’s electric cars more efficiency and reliability all at once. The key to the new inverter is a more efficient diode, a component that regulates the current between the battery and the motor.

With the more efficient diode and the smaller size, Nissan’s leap into the electric car market looks to be on pretty solid ground. The car company is expected to spring some more new technology on the markets in the coming period of time, bolstering its claim to electric car supremacy even further.

For now, the smaller inverter allows Nissan to create smaller electric cars and improve the function of the motors within the vehicles. By building smaller cars, Nissan also can work towards efficiency and can produce vehicles that will save consumers time and money.

Other Nissan cars face similar improvements, with Nissan experimenting with different facets of automotive construction so as to ensure a better car for all Nissan drivers.

One such vehicle was a snazzy electric car set for release in 2010. The car packs a battery more powerful than any other battery currently on the marketplace, which means that the vehicle will probably become popular rather quickly. According to reporters at Nissan headquarters, the electric car carried a 660 pound lithium-ion battery and still zipped around a Nissan Motor Co. test course, accelerating more rapidly than similar gas engine cars.

Nissan has made the new electric car the pinnacle of its newest marketing strategy. The test model runs silent, but more details are set to be hammered out before its release.

The race is on around the world for the perfect electric car, as companies like Nissan, Toyota, and Honda fight over eco-supremacy. At this point, Nissan sits behind its two Japanese rivals and will need to come up with something big to stay in the game. Most who were at the event and saw the electric offering say that the vehicle will, indeed, see some success against its opponents.

From where I sit, it pains me to constantly think back to some of the earlier electric cars and how things have changed since then. With moves from oil companies and car companies to squash production on electric cars and to limit commercialization of the vehicles, especially the General Motors EV1 from the 1990s, I’m what you could call a sceptic in terms of this new movement.

But if companies like Honda and Toyota are backing new electric technology (or old electric technology), perhaps we’re looking at the dawning of a new era. Perhaps with Nissan cars boasting electric engines and people in the market for something different, the electric car won’t fade away so quickly this time around.