Motoring giant Nissan recently unveiled the Leaf, a battery-powered hatchback that can seat five people, at its new corporate headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.  The Leaf is due to hit car showrooms in Japan, Europe and the U.s. by the end of 2010.

Nissan stated that the Leaf can go up to 100 miles between recharges, and reach a top speed of 90 mph.  The lithium ion battery can be recharged up to 80% within 30 minutes.  The Leaf also boasts other features such as LED headlights that uses only 10% of the energy of current conventional headlights, and an air-conditioning and car charging system that can be controlled by mobile phone. Nissan says this last function may allow the car to text you when recharging is complete.

The car will be manufactured in Japan with batteries made in Sunderland in the U.K. The car pricing is not yet available, but the company expects it to be between roughly $16,500 to $26,000.

Competition for the Leaf is expected to come from Smart cars, and all-electric models of the Mini, Prius and also from other car companies such as Tesla and Reva.