You have in fact seen a Nissan hybrid already, in the Altima’s skin. However, the hybrid synergy drive came from licensed Toyota parts. Now the company’s new hybrid is all Nissan and delivers a rear-wheel drive and parallel-powertrain hybrid system. The system, which will be fitted on a rear-wheel drive Infiniti, employs two clutches that allow the battery and gas engine to work at the same time. It will also have the standard fare of regenerative braking and idle-stop. This may be similar to hybrids we’ve already seen, but Nissan’s one of the first to power the vehicle using lithium-ion batteries.

A prototype of their electric vehicle, debuted in the form of the Cube, will be developed on an entirely new platform. It will use lithium-ion batteries as well in order to power the 80kW motor. Nissan is planning to introduce the car in 2010.

[Source: Nissan]