The Leaf EV is the company's attempt to build and produce, on a large-scale, an electric car that can travel more than 100 miles on a charge and get the electric equivalent of 376 MPGe. After mostly missing the hybrid boat, Nissan has moved ahead on battery technology and plans to accept 20,000 reservations for the vehicle in the U.S. alone next year.

Details:
The world's first EV designed for large-scale volume production
• High-performance, zero-emission power train and platform take the "joy of driving" to another dimension.
• A design that evokes a clean and intelligent image and a body that achieves optimal aerodynamics and wind noise characteristics are packaged into this innovative and original five-passenger, five-door hatchback.
• Has a range of more than 160km (100 miles) on one full charge, which is sufficient for most daily needs.
• Features an advanced IT system that is specially designed for zero-emission mobility. Navigation screen supports the driver by displaying range autonomy areas and battery-charging spots with a touch of a button.

This car is currently available in RHD drive mode only, purely for the Japanese market, but it provides an interesting alternative to the Elise in the world of featherweight sports cars.

Too bad it'll never built, Carlos! Hah!

What's that? You can't imagine a Toyota that might consider offering a fun, affordable, two door with a modicum of sportiness and some seriously interesting style? Might we introduce you to the Toyota FT-86 concept — the first Toyota (barring the epic Lexus LFA) we've been genuinely excited about since the... um... Supra? Wow, that took entirely too long.

Seriously, Narita is like the Romulus of Tokyo. And by that I mean Romulus of MI, not the Star Trek planet. Meaning, it's where the airport's located and that's about it. So, anyone know anything fun to do around these parts past midnight? Any open-all-night car shops? Anything? I'm chewing four pieces of Jolt Gum, eating an oatmeal raisin cooking and drinking a cup of something called Pocari Sweat. I'm freakin' bored out of my mind here! Anyone have any ideas for anything to do past midnight near the Excel Hotel in Narita? Screw this — I'm just going to go stare at cars in the hotel parking lot.

Photo Credit: jamesjustin / Flickr

A good percentage of the staff here at Jalopnik are also motorcycle riders, so we get it, we understand the draw to the idea of a leaning automobile. It can provide for incredibly entertaining performance characteristics, they can look incredibly cool and it's a wonderful engineering challenge. Getting the wheel kinematics right for acceptable ride and safe handling while making the vehicle actively lean is no small feat, but in the end, leaning concepts like the Nissan Land Glider are largely pointless.

Nissan's claiming the Land Glider "gives a clear direction to how a future small car from Nissan could look in congested cities," but a "clear direction" more than likely means design direction. But why are we so pessimistic? Basic consumer behavior. Building a leaning car with the Land Glider as an example requires complex controllers, motors, actuators and sensors which don't exist on normal, non-leaning cars. They require tires entirely unique to the specific car. The necessarily narrow design demands tandem seating, which is inconvenient at best and uncouth for female passengers at worst. Because of the packaging constraints, cargo space is limited even though they can be powered, as the Land Glider is, by a pair of electric motor and an array of lithium-ion batteries. All of this in a car which takes a subcompact length vehicle and cuts two thirds of the width out.

And then we come to the bottom line; because of the complex engineering challenges and unique parts, a completely unique assembly line necessitated by the vehicles shape, it's going to be a premium priced vehicle as well. The value proposition is a severely difficult sell in our minds, a gimmick car with a lot of sacrifices for a premium price, And that's just from the selling angle, we haven't even started thinking about negotiating the labyrinth of regulatory elements a leaning vehicle would have to pass, avoid, get waivers for, or design around. Then there's crash testing requirements. Good luck with those.

With magnetorheological dampers, we're at a point where roll can be essentially eliminated, and the Bose active damper system that never got picked up by a manufacturer could have done the leaning trick on a full-width car, but building a car that can lean over 17 degrees like the Land Glider is the stuff of auto shows and design experiments. We're not saying a leaning car will never be built, in fact we'd love to see one, but reality tells us it's just not in the cards and building these concept cars is a waste of good money. For the foreseeable future, if you want to experience a leaning vehicle, get a motorcycle.

A Legacy In The Front Three-Quarters
The original Toyota AE86 is a legend, offering the fun of RWD in an extremely light-and-tossable platform. Despite having econo-car dimensions, the AE86 was able to incorporate a sports car look with its long, sloping hood and a line carrying itself through the A-pillar. Click through to see how this element transformed into the final concept.

Toyota's Design Evolves In Profile
The RWD is teased in the Hofmeister Kink, which goes through quite the metamorphosis before ending up with a look that combines the wild integrated kink of the first sketch and concept with the practical C-pillar on the original coupe and three-door.

A Sexy Swoop In Back
The new swoopy design language on the FT-86 has less to do with the AE-86 and more to do with where Toyota is going as a company. The two-box design coming to a point at the rear evolves from the LF-A Roadster concept to something more dramatic on the sketch and concept before ending up with a design incorporating the same rotary look into the trunkline.

Looking To The Future Up Front
Toyota has lacked a distinctive front fascia for years, with little similarity between a Camry, Corolla and Avalon, to give just one example. Though you don't quite see the emergence of one in these drawings, it's clear with the introduction of the 2010 4Runner that Toyota is attempted, at least, to create a more aggressive look with the use of a trapezoidal shape.

Conclusion
The FT-86 in name and purpose is the heir to the AE86 legacy but is far more important to the brand. Though still a concept, this near-production vehicle is perhaps Toyota's best answer to Aiko Toyoda's complaint that the company has become distant from its customers.

The Toyota FT-86 concept is the fruit of cooperation between Toyota Motor Company and Subaru, and as such will wear a common chassis and some degree of engine commonality, at the least a 2.0 liter, four cylinder boxer engine dubbed the "C-45 Boxer" and making between 200 and 250 HP will power the rear wheels through a manual six speed transmission, and get this — no hybrid system. Saints be praised.

Perhaps most telling are the car's overall dimensions. At 163.7 inches long, 69.3 inches, a wheelbase of 101.2 inches, and 49.6 inches high, it's thankfully compact, smaller in length, width and height than the Nissan 370Z, and slightly longer in wheelbase. It's also the first car to wear Toyota's new swoopy styling with some gusto. Dare we say it, we actually like the look of it. It's... exciting, we're so confused here. The interior is obviously all show-car glam and may serve as direction, but we'll be shocked if there are many zippers on the production car's dash.

We're men enough to admit that combined with the recently unveiled 2010 Toyota 4Runner, we're about to shed a tear over what looks to be the return of the old, fun AE86 sports coupe-building Toyota.

Next-generation, clean diesel Mazda SKY-D engine

Mazda's new SKY-D clean diesel engine boasts high fuel economy and output performance as well as low emissions. The newly designed engine block reduces mechanical friction to the level of a petrol engine. By optimising the pressure and temperature in the cylinders, the shape of combustion chambers, and the fuel injection rate, combustion begins at the best timing in terms of thermal efficiency. Specifically, by employing piezo injectors, a two-stage turbocharger and other technologies, fuel economy becomes approximately 20 percent better than the current 2.2-litre diesel engine. With this engine, Mazda has achieved fuel economy equivalent to the current Mazda2 (Demio in Japan) in a larger vehicle the size of a Mazda6 (Atenza in Japan).

Next-generation, direct-injection Mazda SKY-G petrol engine

Mazda SKY-G is a next-generation, direct-injection petrol engine with significantly improved fuel economy and output performance due to enhanced thermal efficiency. The engine block is newly designed to reduce mechanical friction and achieve an optimal air-fuel mix, and a direct fuel-injection system is employed for the wide variety of spray profiles that are possible, enabling the maximum expansion ratio to be achieved. Specifically, fuel economy and torque are improved by approximately 15 percent compared to Mazda's current 2.0-litre engine. This was achieved by adopting next-generation fuel injectors and a highly functional variable-valve timing mechanism. The engine enables fuel economy equivalent to the current Mazda2 (Demio in Japan) to be achieved in a larger vehicle the size of a Mazda3 (Axela in Japan).

Next-generation Mazda SKY-Drive automatic transmission

Mazda's next-generation SKY-Drive automatic transmission is highly efficient, contributes to substantially improved fuel economy and delivers a more direct feel compared with the current unit. It improves fuel economy by approximately five percent, due to a complete redesign that significantly reduces mechanical friction, a revised torque converter and clutch with minimised slip, and an optimised lock-up mechanism. A rapid clutch action was achieved by identifying the minimum amount of fluid necessary. This also helped to realise a direct feel similar to a dual clutch transmission.