Nissan Motor Co's Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn poses with the company's prototype of the first mass-volume electric car "Leaf" during an opening ceremony at the company's new global headquarters in Yokohama, south of Tokyo August 2, 2009. Japan's No.3 automaker and its French partner, Renault SA, have been the most aggressive proponents of pure electric vehicles in the auto industry, announcing plans to mass-market the clean but expensive cars globally in 2012. Nissan will begin selling the first Leaf cars in the United States and Japan in the latter half of next year, adding more models in rapid succession.

BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Nissan Motor Co. unveiled the zero-emission Leaf, its highly anticipated electric car.

Media reports said Tuesday that Nissan will begin selling the first Leaf vehicles in the U.S., Japan, and Europe toward the end of 2010, and follow up with two models after that.

The Leaf is a five-door hatchback with some family resemblance to the Nissan Versa. The car will have a top speed approaching 80 miles (128 km) per hour and a range of at least 100 miles (168 km).

Nissan is targeting 200,000 units per year once the car hits the rest of the world in 2012.

There is no word yet on pricing, but if Nissan plays its cards right, this one should end up right in the thick of the mass market--as opposed to the 40,000 U.S. dollars Chevy Volt or the 57,400 U.S. dollars Tesla Model S sedan.