Nissan News
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As automobile manufacturers strive for greater fuel efficiency, it's the low-hanging fruit proving most effective for immediate gains. That's why Nissan's new 2014 Versa Note--replacing the old 2012 Versa hatchback--has improved by a full 5 mpg on the old car's combined economy. The 2014 Nissan Versa Note achieves EPA gas mileage figures of 31 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and 35 mpg combined. While none embarass a similarly-sized hybrid vehicle like the Toyota Prius C, they're thoroughly respectable numbers for a standard subcompact. The lightly-tweaked Ford Fiesta SFE, by comparison, is 2 mpg...
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Nissan Planning Electric City Car Rival To Renault's Twizy
Buoyed by the quiet European success of the Renault Twizy electric city car, the French firm's Japanese partner Nissan is considering its own diminutive electric vehicle. That's according to Etienne Henry, Nissan's head of product strategy and planning. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Henry...
Antony Ingram -
New Datsun Budget Car Revealed In Sketches, Eastern Markets Only
Many drivers have fond memories of Datsun cars from the 1970s and 80s, and their modern-day values are testament to the brand's endearing simplicity and fun. Whether the newest Datsun--seen here in official sketches and due to be revealed in India on July 15th--will continue those traits is...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Unveils ZEOD Electric Race Car Prototype At Le Mans
The 24 Heures du Mans endurance race, held at Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is the world's most famous endurance car race. It's also a hotbed of automotive technology development. So while Audi's dominance and the sad loss of competitor Allan Simonsen in the weekend's race dominated the on-track...
Antony Ingram -
Nismo Offers To 'Chip' Your Leaf Electric Car For Better Performance
Nice vehicle though the 2013 Nissan Leaf is, it's just a little... tame, for some people. Those people may be intrigued to know that in Japan at least, there's an option to give it a little more performance. We've covered the Nissan Leaf tuned by NISMO (for NISsan MOtorsport) previously, but the...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan To Offer Leaf Battery Replacement Plan: $100 A Month
To allay fears about loss of capacity in its Leaf electric-car battery packs, Nissan announced today that it would offer what amounts to a battery leasing program after the pack goes out of warranty. The cost of ensuring minimum capacity will be $100 a month. The company now warranties the Leaf...
John Voelcker -
Electric vehicles are still considered a risky strategy in the business world, with relatively low sales numbers not enough to convince skeptics of their business case. Nissan has had plenty of recognition for its commitment to the Leaf though, including a high ranking in the latest Interbrand 'Best Global Green Brands' report. The company finished fifth, its first top ten appearance and a leap of 16 places from last year giving it a "top riser" ranking too. The reason? Nissan's recognized leadership in zero emissions mobility with the Leaf electric car. As Nissan reports, the company has...
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Nissan Leaf, Solar-Canopy Charging Station In New SIMS Game
The Nissan Leaf is no stranger to videogames. Last year, we had a little race between a Leaf and the Toyota Prius--albeit in the realistic but completely virtual world of Gran Turismo 5. But what you can't do in Gran Turismo is virtually charge your virtual Leaf with virtual solar panels--something...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Nissan Leaf Final Ratings Issued: 115 MPGe, 75 Miles Of Range
It often takes awhile to get gas-mileage ratings onto the EPA's official website, and it's no different with electric-car efficiency numbers. Now we have the final ratings for the 2013 Nissan Leaf compact hatchback: It's rated at 115 MPGe, up from the 99 MPGe for 2011 and 2012 models. MPGe stands...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Wants Apps, Needs Your Data To Make Them Work
Humanity is in an awkward phase -- the gangly, emotional phase between life as we've known it for thousands of years and a life lived largely online. The transition has made many uncomfortable, afraid that we're casting off the familiar trappings of the real world in favor of something new...
Richard Read -
2013 Nissan Leaf: Driven Through Tennessee Countryside
After our quick drive of a 2013 Nissan Leaf before the New York Auto Show in late March, we were finally able to spend some extended time with the updated electric car outside Nashville. Our initial impressions remain the same: The Leaf is a perfectly normal, competent compact five-door hatchback...
John Voelcker -
2013 Nissan Leaf Electric Car Gets IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Rating
Nobody really wants to crash, but if you're unfortunate enough to do so it's nice to know your chances of escaping injury are better than most. That's the case with the 2013 Nissan Leaf, which has picked up a "Top Safety Pick" rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). While the...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan should be pleased with its Leaf sales over the first few months of this year--not only is it beating last year's monthly rate, but it's on a level with the previously higher-selling Chevy Volt. Not so in Australia though, where the car is still struggling. In fact, it's struggling enough that Nissan has cut a huge chunk off the price of a new Leaf. According to The Telegraph, the car's original introductory price of $51,500 AUS ($53,100 U.S.) has been slashed to $39,990 AUS drive-away ($41,200 U.S.). That will still sound expensive to U.S. buyers, but it's within $3,100 U.S. of the...
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Nissan To Tackle Plug-In Hybrids, Fuel Cells As Well As Electric Cars
Nissan's Leaf is one of the highest-profile electric cars on the market, but the automaker is working on other alternative-propulsion vehicles, too. According to What Car, Nissan is planning the launch of a plug-in hybrid vehicle within the next two years, and even a hydrogen fuel cell car by 2017...
Antony Ingram -
Watch A 2013 Nissan Leaf Being Built In Tennessee (Video)
We always love seeing how electric cars are made. There's something fascinating about watching a car go right from the metal presses to rolling out of the factory. In recent years we've brought you videos of such a process for several electric cars, and now it's the turn of the 2013 Nissan Leaf at...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Nissan Versa Sedan: Pricing And Specification Revealed
It may not be fast, it may not be pretty, but the Nissan Versa Sedan has one overriding virtue--it's cheap. That continues for the 2014 model year, as pricing remains unchanged from the 2013 Versa Sedan. A standard Versa S starts at $11,990--plus a $750 destination and handling fee--making it the...
Antony Ingram -
Best-Selling Nissan In Portland: Leaf Electric Car--Due To Electric Highway?
We've already asked whether the Tesla Model S sells more units than the equivalent BMW, Audi or Mercedes--and now Nissan is outselling regular vehicles with its Leaf. Not Corollas or Ford Focus countrywide, of course--but apparently every other Nissan vehicle in March, in Portland, Oregon. With...
Antony Ingram -
U.S.-Built Electric Cars To Get U.S.-Made Battery Cells Too
While the number of plug-in electric cars built in the U.S. is steadily increasing, the lithium-ion cells in their batteries have mostly come from overseas. But this turns out to be the year that cell production largely moves onshore as well. The 2013 Nissan Leaf, now coming off the assembly line...
John Voelcker -
In America, if you want a new electric car, you go to a dealer and buy one. You might have to wait a bit of course, but generally your money gets you access to both the car and its batteries. In Europe, things are a little different. If you're Renault, you sell people a car and offer its batteries only on a lease. It alleviates the stress of potential catastrophic battery failure, they say (though they don't use exactly that turn of phrase). Nissan is now taking the same route, with its freshly-launched 2013 Leaf. In essence, the Leaf you buy in Europe is very similar to the Leaf you'll buy...
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Nissan Leaf's Great-Grandfather: The Tama EV
You might think high gasoline prices are a problem now, but at least it's relatively easy to get hold of. The same couldn't be said in Japan after the end of World War II, when the country's gasoline supplies were limited under Allied occupation. Transport was still vital, which led Nissan and...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Nissan Leaf Electric Car: Updates, Video At NY Auto Show
Later today, we'll find out how many 2013 Nissan Leafs the company delivered last month. March was the first month that Nissan's electric car reached dealerships in volume from the Tennessee production line where all U.S. Leafs are now assembled, using lithium-ion cells from a plant right next...
John Voelcker -
2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid: Video From New York Auto Show
Last week's New York Auto Show had a number of green vehicles, but there were relatively few new production models there that truly qualified as green. So a new hybrid model of Nissan's seven-seat crossover Pathfinder comes as close as we can get. It's likely to be considered by a number of...
John Voelcker -
2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid: Full Details From NY Auto Show
The 2014 Nissan Pathfinder enters its second year as a seven-seat family crossover with a new model added: the first-ever Pathfinder Hybrid, a direct shot across the bows of the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The 2014 Pathfinder is unchanged in style from the model introduced last year, with its rakish...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan CEO Talks Electric Car Sales And Chinese Production
Carlos Ghosn is a busy man. In charge of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, his remit includes the diverse product lines of each company and most recently, each carmaker's electric vehicle range, too. Speaking to Leaf owners at a jamboree at Kansai University, Japan, Ghosn is still positive about each...
Antony Ingram