A Chevrolet Volt that was side-impact tested for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and caught fire three weeks later has prompted the same agency to begin investigating lithium-ion batteries from all makers.
The second Volt now known to have been involved in a fire in early June after the 20-mph impact did not make the press five months ago, and might have gone unreported if not for the investigation just begun.
NHTSA's full revelation was reported last week, and details included that the fire might have been prevented if it had known to implement GM’s post-crash protocols. In a statement, NHTSA did not raise undue alarm.
While some auto industry stakeholders have objected to stringent proposed Corporate Average
Fuel Economy mandates, Nissan has taken the opposite stance with its Green Program 2016.
Yesterday the Japanese automaker announced it will outdo every competitor in its environmental initiatives including sales of 1.5 million zero emissions vehicles by the end of fiscal 2016.
As of the end of September Nissan had sold about 16,000 Leafs, so predictions along with Renault to multiply this one-hundredfold in six years could be seen as ambitious to say the least.
Nonetheless, the company has pledged 70 percent of its annual research and development budget toward environmental technologies to make it so.
In the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, stories began to emerge of hybrid vehicle owners using their cars to power appliances and cook food when power was cut off for hours or even days at a time. Now, several manufacturers are reportedly working to add electrical output capacity to their hybrid and plug-in and vehicles.
This week Nissan said it would start producing the all-electric LEAF’s traction motor in the U.S. beginning early 2013, even as the company prepares to roll out improved 2012 LEAFs to a broader market later this year.
A few days ago we reported Nissan will add cold weather accommodations to 2012s based on consumer feedback.
The company now says it will make DC fast charging capability standard on all 2012 LEAF SL models, and this decision is also based on initial owner ordering preferences and feedback.
On July 25 Nissan will begin taking orders from consumers with existing reservations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The phrase “Zero Emission” is Nissan’s clarion call for a new era of electric cars, the company’s long-term strategy for sustainable mobility. But Nissan today announced a full range of mid-term fuel-saving technologies, including hybrids, clean diesels, stop-start systems, and continuously variable transmissions. Most notably, the Infiniti M35 Hybrid, could almost double the mileage of the conventional version.
Despite reports to the contrary, Nissan is not anti-hybrid. In fact, the Nissan Altima Hybrid is arguably has just the right combination of power, style and fuel economy to be a mainstream hit. So why isn’t the Altima Hybrid—with its compelling combo of power, handling, style, and fuel economy—well known from coast-to-coast?
Nick Chambers, who writes for PluginCars.com—our sister site—is heading off to Japan next week, as he becomes the first writer-blogger to take a spin in the LEAF. “I see it as a duty to make sure that I get as much information as possible and disseminate it as widely as possible,” Nick writes. Check out what else is on Nick’s mind as he prepares for the big day.
A Nissan technician on the production line in Smyrna, Tenn. bolts a gas tank into a Maxima. Nissan will run the Leaf on the same line, but will install battery packs instead of gas tanks—and electric motors and components instead of engines and transmissions. Yesterday’s groundbreaking for Nissan’s Smyrna, Tenn. battery plant allowed us to do a deep dive with Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning for the Nissan Leaf.
Deloitte’s Robert Hill said the adoption of electric cars will match the slow acceptance of 20th-century consumer breakthroughs like washing machines—not the fast embrace of more recent innovations like the cell phone. What do you believe?
The Times of London reported last month that the cost of the 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack in the all-electric Nissan Leaf, due out later this year, is £6,000—or US $375 per kilowatt-hour. That's a few dollars away from what many observers consider to be a tipping point for mass adoption of electric cars. Is it time to cue Kool & the Gang and pop open the champagne? Not quite, say a number of experts—including some leading EV advocates.
The number of customers who have pre-ordered the all-electric Nissan Leaf is up to 8,000. That’s 10 days after Nissan started taking take $99 refundable deposits. “I’m feeling pretty good about it,” Mark Perry, director of product planning at Nissan, told HybridCars.com. The company is well on its way to achieving its target of 25,000 pre-orders by December. In fact, demand for the Leaf could exceed supply.
Nissan began yesterday to take reservations for the Nissan Leaf—the first mass-market all-electric car to hit the market since GM’s EV1 was canceled in 2003. A list of approximately 100,000 pre-registered interested buyers received an email, notifying them that the reservation website was ready to take orders. Due to a computer glitch, many consumers were unable to place a reservation on the first day.
Nissan today announced pricing for the mass-market Nissan Leaf electric car. The suggested retail price will be $32,780, while a monthly lease will cost $349 per month. A vast array of federal and state consumer incentives, including a $7,500 tax credit, will reduce the total purchase price down to $25,280, and even lower in some states.
After dominating the world market for hybrid gas-electric vehicles, Japan's automakers are now aiming to set the global standards for electric car charging. A coalition of companies, including Nissan and Toyota, announced yesterday the creation of a organization called CHAdeMO that is working to develop the standards.
Nissan announced today that the Nissan Leaf will be available to consumers via lease or sale, in a single transaction that includes the battery. Pricing is not yet available, but the company outlined the steps to acquiring the pure electric five-passenger Leaf. Some customers could wait as long as a year after placing an order.
In the past two weeks, two different companies have announced plans to roll out public rapid charging for electric cars. These chargers will allow electric car drivers to roll up, fill up, and drive off almost as fast as they do today in gas-powered cars. In an interview with HybridCars.com, John Aker, president and CTO of Aker Wade, explains his vision of EV rapid charging.
In the past, the Detroit auto show was all about theater. Pulsating music, fog machines, and sexy models. Some of that remains, but at this year’s show, starting next week, automakers are getting real. After years of spending millions of dollars on glitzy displays but fighting higher efficiency standards, car companies are finally putting their energies into the battle for leadership in advanced fuel-saving technology.
The national tour for the all-electric Nissan Leaf continues to make its way across the country. We were able to see the five-seat 100-mile-range car yesterday in Walnut Creek, California—a few days before it arrives at the 2009 San Francisco International Auto Show. This gave us an opportunity to confirm a few key points, and discover one or two others.
The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, and the Nissan Leaf pure electric car, are both about one year away from reaching car dealerships. At the “T minus one year" mark, top-tier auto journalists are finding small faults with the cars, but are pronouncing them in great shape for a rollout in one year.
Nissan released an image yesterday of a light commercial electric vehicle concept. It’s just a sketch, but the drawing signals that Nissan is moving forward with plans to build an entire electric vehicle program—rather than focusing on a single vehicle.
For the past few months, Nissan-Renault has been tiptoeing around the idea of leasing the battery packs that power its upcoming electric cars. The goal is to assuage consumer worries about getting stung with the high cost of replacing an electric car battery if it fails or loses too much capability over the course of years. Nissan has not confirmed details, but recent comments from executives show that the company is seriously considering the idea.
After years of complaints from blind pedestrians that ultra-quiet hybrid cars pose a safety threat, the auto industry is responding by producing on-board devices that emit sounds, such as jet engines, boings, or human voice saying, “Excuse me.” One day, electric car and hybrid drivers might download “vroomtones” for their cars, the way they download ringtones for cell phones today.
Major car companies are working on ways that plug-in cars will communicate with the electric grid. Ford, Nissan and Volvo have displayed their visions. We spoke with Greg Frenette, Ford manager of battery electric vehicle applications, to learn which driver controls are essential and feasible—and which charging technologies are more fantasy than reality.
General Motors announced Tuesday that the Chevy Volt could get a government in-city fuel economy rating of “230 miles per gallon.” While the potential for a three-digit mpg rating is grabbing headlines, figuring out what it means is another matter. What's the significance of MPG in a vehicle which seldom or never uses gallons of liquid fuel?
No longer an amorphous concept, Nissan’s electric car can now be stacked up against other hybrids and plug-in cars for its look and feel, features, and likely cost. The reviews from the blogosphere—usually an irreverant crowd—were mixed.
After months of anticipation, Nissan today unveiled the Nissan Leaf, a medium-size all-electric hatchback that seats five adults and has a range of 100 miles. Check out first photos and video.
