Ford’s Fiesta goes the econobox gas-sipping route, while Nissan turns over a new Leaf with an all-electric hatchback.

For car manufacturers, the writing is pretty much on the wall: go green or go home. But what’s green—a battery-powered electric car? A hybrid? Something diesel-powered? An econobox gas sipper?

In a word, yes. With Ford’s new Fiesta, it’s definitely the latter, while in the case of the Nissan Leaf prototype, it’s the first option all the way. Interestingly, these two recently had their Canadian debut in Vancouver.

Fiesta first. Other carmakers—such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, and Hyundai—have had pint-size hatchback runabouts on the market for decades, and until about 25 years ago so did Ford. Introduced in 1976 and built in Germany, the first-generation Fiesta was one of Ford’s most successful models worldwide, and the company has, over the years, sold some 12 million of the subcompacts. Ford discontinued it in North America around 1983, but has continued to sell it around the globe, including in Europe, where it’s consistently been one of the company’s best-selling models and has been available with both gasoline and diesel power plants.

Why did Ford take it off the market in North America? A big part of the reason is the intransigence of American buyers, who just can’t seem to get their heads around the concept of driving small cars. Even now, U.S. consumers have a mulish unwillingness to get behind the wheel of a subcompact car, and like it or not, our neighbours to the south are still the big dogs in North America. If it’s big cars they want, it’s big cars they get. Ford, like all carmakers, simply responds to the market.

Anyway, U.S. buyers seem to be coming around. Ford introduced the new sixth-generation Fiesta at the Los Angeles Auto Show in early December, and the Canadian media got a preview several weeks before that.

Built on the same platform as the soon-to-be-released Mazda2 and manufactured in Mexico, the reborn Fiesta is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder developing some 118 to 120 horsepower. Transmission choices will be a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. Performance is lively, and the new Fiesta boasts more grunt and revving power than direct rival the Toyota Yaris, for example. With European-designed suspension, it also has better handling and braking than its Japanese competitor, which can be a little on the skittish side under certain conditions. Storage space, key to this market, will be around 362 litres, and the Fiesta will accommodate four passengers in relative comfort. No fuel-consumption numbers are available yet, nor has Ford announced a pricing structure, but the new Fiesta should be in Canadian show rooms by early 2010, as a 2011 model.

Nissan, meanwhile, held the Canadian debut of its all-electric Leaf hatchback in Vancouver two weeks ago. With lithium-ion batteries and seating capacity for five, the Leaf will have a range of some 160 kilometres and a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour. According to Nissan, it has absolutely no carbon footprint, and because it’s electric, it will also be completely emission-free. “The only way to get to 100 percent zero emissions is via electric cars,” says Nissan Canada director of marketing Ian Forsyth. “It’s the only way to go.”

Nissan chose lithium-ion batteries (the kind found in most laptop computers) to power the Leaf’s 107-horsepower electric motor, and in this form they’re laminated, mainly to deal with heat buildup, which has been a consistent problem with lithium-ion. Recharging times vary from eight hours to 30 minutes, depending on the type of charging station. A home-based, 220-volt setup, for example, will do the job in about eight hours, while a 480- to 600-volt facility (found at most gas stations, funnily enough) can do it in half an hour.

“Ease of charging is key to the success of the Leaf,” says Forsyth. Between now and its launch in 2012, the City of Vancouver and B.C. Hydro will apparently be installing recharging facilities throughout the city. Among other things, some 20 percent of parking stalls in new condo developments in the city will be required to have 220-volt recharging stations. Hydro will also add the Leaf to its fleet in 2011, and the city has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan.

A couple of things distinguish the Leaf from its competitors. First, it has almost sports-car-like performance and can easily keep up with traffic and then some, and second, it’s “production ready” now and will be available at Nissan dealerships in the same way as a conventional automobile. The company assures us that dealers will have them in their show rooms by 2012, and that Vancouver will be the first city in the world to get them.

Although it’s based on the Versa platform, the Leaf is actually somewhere between an Altima and a Sentra in size, and is a one-of-a-kind model in Nissan’s fleet. It will seat five adults and comes with regenerative braking to help recharge the batteries during operation. The batteries themselves are located under the floor, in the middle of the vehicle; this arrangement gives it a low centre of gravity and decent handling, all things considered. And here’s a cool little feature: you’ll be able to “talk” with the Leaf—and it with you—via your cellphone/communications device to determine things like the state of the battery charge.

No price yet from Nissan, but the Leaf will be competitive with similarly sized rivals—likely in the $25,000 to $30,000 neighbourhood.