Nissan News
-
This is a tough period for Nissan and its Leaf electric car. Sales have been stagnant, averaging 500 cars per month this year. More recent concerns by owners in Phoenix over unexpected battery-capacity loss raise the specter of a plug-in car with limited lifespan. Some observers feel that Nissan hasn't adequately communicated the car's capabilities and expected battery life to prospective buyers, nor engaged Leaf owners adequately when they have had complaints. Now Nissan is making several changes to its U.S. Leaf operation, and last week it surveyed "hand-raisers"--those people who indicated...
-
2012 Nissan Leaf Lease Now $219 A Month, Incentives Increase
With ongoing consumer concerns about battery longevity in hot climates, not to mention an all-new 2013 Leaf electric car just around the corner, NIssan has dropped the price of leasing a 2012 model. According to The Washington Post, Nissan started September with enough 2012 Leafs in its inventory...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Nissan Altima Gets Five-Star NCAP Crash-Test Rating
With all eyes turned to the 2012 Paris Auto Show, Nissan has quietly announced that its all-new 2013 Nissan Altima has been awarded a 5-star overall rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its New car Assessment Program (NCAP) Awarded top marks for both frontal crash and...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Buys Back Leaf Electric Cars Under Arizona Lemon Law
Yesterday, a local news station in Phoenix, Arizona, confirmed that Nissan has agreed to buy back wilting Leaf electric cars from their owners under the state’s Lemon Law. The news comes less than a week after Mark Perry, Nissan North America’s product planning and advanced technology...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Leaf Owners Ratchet Up Attack On Nissan Handling Of Battery Loss
It’s been six days since results of an independent test were published showing that Nissan Leaf electric cars in hot climates were suffering from premature range loss, and four days since Nissan responded, saying the high mileage of affected cars was to blame. Since then, we’ve been...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Launches Global Leaf Advisory Board For Better Electric-Car Understanding
For the past few months, Nissan has been investigating cases of premature battery aging and lost range in its Leaf electric car, particularly in hot climates like Arizona. Amidst continuing pressure from Leaf owners, however, and with the results of an independent Leaf range test proving that some...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
It's been a few months now since reports of losses in battery capacity in Nissan Leaf electric cars began to filter out of Arizona. Owners have complained to Nissan's Consumer Affairs group and written hundreds of posts on owner forums. In July, Nissan Americas took seven different Leafs in for a complete assessment by the technical unit at its Arizona Testing Center. Now Nissan is starting to reveal the conclusions it's drawn from examining those seven Leafs and their battery packs. Mark Perry, Nissan North America’s product planning and advanced technology director, discussed the...
-
Independent Tests Show Nissan Leaf Electric Cars Lost Range In Hot Climates
Have Nissan Leafs in hot states suffered premature battery aging, or is the apparent loss in capacity down to a malfunction in the Leaf’s dashboard display? That’s been the question on the lips of Nissan Leaf owners worldwide after some owners in Phoenix, Arizona, began reporting that...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Leaf To Get Better Battery, No News On Capacity Loss
When it launched back in 2010, the Nissan Leaf electric hatchback was criticized for its high sticker price, due in part to its expensive battery pack. Now Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has confirmed what had been widely rumored: Future models of the Nissan Leaf electric car will get an improved, cheaper...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Leaf Owners Send Science In To Tackle Wilting Nissan Leafs
There’s nothing better than a scientific test to prove or disprove a theory. So when Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer described the recent reports of battery capacity loss in its Leaf electric car as nothing more than a ‘faulty battery level display’ earlier this month...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2013 Nissan Sentra Compact Sedan Unveiled: 34 MPG Combined
On Friday, just before the Labor Day weekend started, Nissan quietly released details of the much-needed update to its Sentra compact sedan. Last redesigned some six years ago, the new, leaner 2013 Sentra has undergone a complete redesign in the name of improving its gas mileage, and is essentially...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Leaf Joins Drivers’ Ed, Passes No-Gas Student
Do you remember learning to drive? The chances are, like us, you learned to drive in a gasoline car, even if you drive an electric car today. Last month however, Norwegian Solveig Marie Ødegård became the first person in the world to learn to drive and pass her test in an all-electric...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
As with many other cars sold around the world, there are small differences between the 2012 Nissan Leaf sold in the U.S. and the 2012 Nissan Leaf found in other countries. While Leaf owners in other countries may end up paying more for their cars, they often get more features included as standard, and more impressive accessories lists. We’ve compiled a list of five official Nissan Leaf accessories that aren’t officially available in the U.S., but you might want Charging Port Lid Cover Essentially a locking lid that clips on the Leaf’s charge door, the charging port lid cover...
-
2013 Nissan Leaf Electric Car To Use New, Cheaper Battery Cells: UPDATED
As it enters its third model year, the Nissan Leaf electric car is expected to get a number of updates and improvements for 2013. Now, it appears one of them is a change in the lithium-ion cells used in its battery pack. A new report on Japan's Daily Yomiuri Online news site says that the 2013...
John Voelcker -
2013 Nissan Leaf Edges Closer To Production In Smyrna, TN
Later this year, Nissan will start producing the 2013 all-electric Leaf at its Smyrna facility in Tennessee. The first time the car has been made outside of Japan, the 2013 models will be made alongside some of Nissan’s other popular cars, including the 2013 Pathfinder, Altima, Maxima, Rogue...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Leafhacking Battery Mod Gives Extra Range, But At What Cost?
Like early-adopters of any new technology, the first owners of electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Chevrolet Volt have already proven that they like to hack their plug-in cars to improve features, charging times and even performance. The latest leafhack, from plug-in hybrid battery...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Could 2013 Nissan Leaf Use Renault Zoe’s Heat Pump For Cold Weather?
If you drive a 2011-12 Nissan Leaf, you’ll know that keeping your car warm in winter can drop its range by as many as 30 miles, due to the inefficiency of the its coolant-to-air heater. Starting with the 2013 Leaf, Nissan has already promised a much more efficient heater that will better the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Qashqai Electric Conversion: The Struggle Of The Electric Startup
Those of us who follow the world of electric cars are all too aware how difficult it is to start up an electric car company. Even the larger companies like Tesla Motors, Coda Automotive and Fisker Automotive aren't out of the woods just yet, though some are in a better position than others. One...
Antony Ingram -
The 2013 Nissan Leaf that will go on sale in January will be a slightly different car from the 2011 and 2012 models sold in the U.S. so far. We already know the electric car will offer leather seats and a 6.6-kilowatt charger as options, along with a more efficient heating system. Now a report from Japan suggests that Nissan will offer a 2013 Leaf with longer range, as well as a lower-cost model with a smaller battery pack (which could be restricted to sales in that country). The improvement in usable range is attributed to improved performance from the battery's lithium-ion cells and a more...
-
Canadians: Love A Tree, Win a Nissan Leaf (Or a Phone Or Tissues)
As Canadians will proudly tell you, Canada is really big and really beautiful. Home to 10 percent of the world’s forests, covering more than 53.8 percent of its total surface area, Canada even uses a tree leaf -- the famous maple leaf -- on its flag. Now for one lucky Canadian, publicly...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Secret Buyer Study: Infiniti Considers Electric Sports Car
EDITOR'S UPDATE: Four days after this article went live, Green Car Reports was contacted by Morpace, the company that conducted the study. Their representative informed us that all study panelists did in fact sign a confidentiality agreement, and therefore did not have the right to share any...
John Voelcker -
EVSE Upgrade Testing 6.6-kW Upgrade To Halve Leaf Charging Time
In the world of electric cars, there are a great number of engineers who like to tweak, modify, and improve the various electric cars on the market today. So far we’ve seen everything from advanced remote monitoring devices to jet-powered range extenders, but now one prolific Californian...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
GE WattStation Vindicated, Leaf Blamed In Charging Station Woes
It isn’t a good time to be Nissan right now. For a start, its first all-electric car, the 2012 Leaf, is suffering from poor sales. Then there’s the matter of Leafs in hot states like Arizona exhibiting premature battery capacity loss to attend to. Then, over the weekend, more bad news...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Responds To Wilting Arizonan Leafs, Studies Lost Battery Capacity
When a potential engineering or safety problem with a new or nearly-new car arises, the task of reassuring concerned owners normally falls to the relevant press departments and middle-management. But growing public concern about the rapid battery capacity loss exhibited by some Nissan Leafs in...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield