Nissan is apparently planning to sell battery cars within three years in a bid to catch up with its rivals in the market.

Japan's Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) business daily newspaper said, without citing sources, that an initial light, sub-compact electric model would be powered by lithium-ion batteries developed in-house.

Most battery cars cannot travel far between charges, but Nissan is apparently aiming for a range of 200km.

Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries are leading the development of battery cars. Nissan's participation would, Nihon Keizai said, intensify the race.

Nissan also plans to accelerate the expansion of its diesel car range and the development of bio-ethanol cars in co-operation with top shareholder Renault, the newspaper said. It also plans to develop and sell gas-electric hybrid cars by 2010 in an attempt to catch up with rivals Honda and Toyota, the article claimed.