The Nissan Leaf was put through some paces Monday in Vancouver. (CBC)

A car that automaker Nissan hopes will revolutionize urban commuting made its Canadian debut in Vancouver Monday.

The Nissan Leaf is being touted as the first zero-emissions vehicle powered entirely by electricity to be mass-produced by a major car manufacturer.

"It's a real car," said Ian Forsyth of Nissan Canada. "[It] meets all the safety standards, meets all our internal standards for durability and reliability."

'You want to be able to charge wherever you stop.'—Ian Forsyth, Nissan Canada

While there are many other hybrid cars already on the market that run alternately on gas and electricity, the Leaf runs entirely on lithium ion batteries.

Nissan said the car will have a range of about 160 kilometers and a top speed approaching 140 km/h.

A re-charge requires plugging the vehicle into a regular 120-volt circuit for 16 hours, or connecting to a 220-volt outlet – the kind used for electric stoves and dryers – for eight hours.

"The issue with an electric vehicle is to be able to recharge it," said Forsyth.

"You want to be able to charge it up wherever you stop, and most people only drive 30 kilometres in a trip."

Ease of charging crucial to success

Nissan acknowledges that having charging stations conveniently located in places such as city parking lots and residential parking areas will be crucial to the success of the all-electric vehicle.

The City of Vancouver is already preparing to meet that need.

"We're changing the building bylaws for new residential homes ... to require charging [outlets] in those homes ... before the building is even built," said Brian Beck, who manages the city's Low-Carbon Vehicles Strategy Project.

In October, the city, the B.C. government and BC Hydro signed an agreement with Nissan to make British Columbia the first site in Canada to launch the Leaf in 2011.

The absence of an internal combustion engine, while environmentally friendly, has a disadvantage: the car is so quiet that pedestrians and bicyclists don't hear it coming.

Nissan engineers are seriously considering adding an artificial engine noise to the Leaf, Forsyth said.

Nissan has said the price of the Leaf will likely be about $30,000.