Nissan News
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When auto writers drive test cars, they're usually loaned out from carmakers' regional fleets. So when we asked for an 2012 Nissan Versa sedan to test over a four-day weekend, following our brief test drive of the all-new Versa in May, the car we got seemed rather familiar. It was, in fact, the exact same car. Or at least an identically equipped model in the same color (we forgot to check the VINs). Our drive, which covered almost exactly 300 miles, gave us an overall gas mileage of 33.3 miles per gallon--right in line with the car's EPA combined rating of 33 mpg (30 mpg city, 38 mpg...
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2013 Nissan Leaf: What Would You Change?
The Nissan Leaf may have gone on sale in December 2010, but later this year, production of Nissan’s all-electric hatchback will start for the first time in Smyrna, Tennessee. We’ve been looking forward to the 2013 Nissan Leaf for some time, with hints from Nissan that...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf Electric Cars Offered At Up To $5,000 Off
dealerships are showing 2012 Nissan Leaf SL models at fully $5000 off MSRP
George Parrott -
Nissan's Mark Perry: We're Investigating Arizona's Wilting Leafs
More than two months after a few Nissan Leafs in Arizona began to lose capacity bars in the extreme heat and suffer premature battery aging, Nissan has started formal investigations into the issue. While being interviewed over the telephone by Arizona’s KPHO 5 station in Phoenix, Mark Perry...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan, GE, Working To Solve Leaf, WattStation Charging Woes
Plugging an electric car into a charging station might seem like a simple process, but sometimes even the simplest of processes can go wrong. Over the weekend, we heard reports of several cases of Nissan Leaf owners whose Leafs had sustained damage after charging at GE WattStation Level 2 charging...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
How To Keep Your Nissan Leaf’s Battery Pack Happy In Hot Weather
Just like humans, lithium-ion battery packs don’t like extremes of temperature, which is why automakers often build plug-in cars with liquid-cooled battery packs. Unlike the 2012 Chevrolet Volt and 2012 Tesla Model S however, the Nissan Leaf doesn't have any liquid cooling for its battery...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan announced today the next generation of its global subcompact, the Note, due to go on sale in Japan this September and Europe in 2013. Nissan North America has now followed that news by announcing that the next Versa hatchback will use the same platform, and echo many of the Note's styling cues. Few details are available at the moment, but Nissan confirms that the Versa will use the company's global V-Platform, but "embrace features tailored to its markets in North and South America". The new car may well share similar proportions to the Asian-market Tiida shown at Shanghai, with...
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Nissan Leaf Electric-Car Sales Slump: What's Happening Here?
Last year it was the Chevy Volt, which went through several months of slow sales before rebounding in the spring. This year, it's the Nissan Leaf, the world's highest-volume battery-electric car, whose U.S. sales have slumped to just 600 a month or less--and stayed there since early this year. Just...
John Voelcker -
Outgoing 2012 Nissan Altima: Could It Be A Bargain?
Right now, Nissan dealers across the U.S. are preparing themselves for the launch of the 2013 Altima. In order to clear their inventory of old stock, dealers are likely to be offering some great deals on the outgoing 2012 Altima -- the second best selling car in the U.S. last year. But should you...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2017 Nissan Leaf: Will It Cost The Same As A 2012 Golf?
As battery technology improves, the cost of producing battery packs drops, and the number of electric cars on the road increases, it’s pretty reasonable to expect the sticker price of electric cars to drop in the coming years. But how much will they drop by, and how quickly? How much, for...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf Gets Better At Predicting Range, Charging Needs
How far can your electric car travel before you need a recharge? For most electric car owners, that question is answered with a mixture of (usually inaccurate) on-board computer software and a good dose of past-experience behind the wheel of his or her car. But two planned updates to Nissan’s...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf To Re-Attempt Reversing World Record At Goodwood
Because electric cars are generally powered by an electric motor via a single gear reduction gearbox, they can theoretically move as quickly backwards as they can forwards. It’s no surprise then that as part of the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed due to take place this week, Nissan says its...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
When a Nissan dealer services an all-electric Nissan Leaf, the garage’s diagnostic computer produces a Battery Information Sheet that can give the owner a an at-a-glance assessment of how healthy the battery is in his or her Leaf. But with several dozen Leaf owners, mainly in warmer states, reporting a loss in battery capacity--many within their first year of ownership--is it worth asking your dealer for a Battery Information Sheet when the battery capacity drops? Does a formal Battery Information Sheet give you more information to explain why your Leaf has lost its first capacity bar?...
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2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 SL Sedan: Quick Drive
Last month, we got a chance to drive the all-new 2012 Nissan Versa sedan, perhaps the largest "subcompact" we've ever been inside. We only had about 20 minutes with the car, but that was enough time to put together some quick impressions. The new Versa four-door sedan is rated at 30 mpg city, 38...
John Voelcker -
More Nissan Leaf Battery Loss, Nissan Doesn’t Blink
Last week, Nissan gave an official response to the handful of Arizona drivers of its 2011 Leaf electric car that had experienced the first signs of battery capacity loss. A week on, with more reports from owners claiming a lost battery capacity bar and in two instances, two capacity bars, Nissan...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Think The 2012 Nissan Leaf Is Too Expensive? Australians Pay $52K
One of the most frequent criticisms we hear of electric and plug-in hybrid cars is that they’re just too expensive. Take the 2012 Nissan Leaf, for example. Before government and state incentives, a base-level Leaf SV will set you back $35,200. Live in the right area however, and incentives...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Nissan Sticks With 20K Leafs In U.S. By End Of (Fiscal) Year
Electric-car sales are actually doing better than sales of hybrid-electric vehicles were at the same stage of their launch, though you'd never know it from much of the media. But the prevalent "electric-car-sales-are-disastrous" meme has caused carmakers to couch their predictions much more...
John Voelcker -
2011 Nissan Leaf Battery Capacity Loss: Nissan Responds
Just under a month ago, we reported a few cases in which owners of 2011 Nissan Leafs had noticed the first of twelve lights on their car’s battery capacity gauge had switched off, indicating a marked deterioration in battery capacity after just one year. Now Nissan has released an official...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Talk to any electric car owner, and it’s likely they’ll tell you how little money they spend on running their plug-in car. For them, the switch to electric pays dividends in saved gas bills, but in Japan, a new scheme by Nissan takes it one step further, allowing electric car drivers to earn CO2 credits which help fund more electric car charging stations and conserve the environment. Nissan’s Zero Emissions Fund, run in conjunction with the Green Investment Promotion Organization and certified by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, uses Nissan’s...
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2013 Nissan Altima 2.5: First Drive
The all-new 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 does a surprisingly good job of blending fuel economy, performance, comfort and value in a midsize sedan.
Kurt Ernst -
2013 Nissan Altima: The Most Fuel-Efficient Mid-Size Car You Can Buy
Featuring some pretty nifty fuel-saving technology, like its redesigned continuously variable transmission and Easy Fill Tire Alert System, the 2013 Nissan Altima has always promised to be a green car. But now it’s official: according to the EPA, the 2013 Nissan Altima is the most...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf Becomes A Taxi In Sao Paulo City
It’s the largest city in Brazil, and the world’s seventh largest city by population, but now Sao Paulo can claim another first: it’s one of the few cities in the world where you can hail a Nissan Leaf electric taxi cab. Part of a pilot program between Sao Paul Municipality, the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Leaf Leases: $289 For Base SV, $319 For Nicer SL
The low sales of the Nissan Leaf electric car have been much discussed in the media--just as those of the Chevy Volt were until it began to log respectable sales numbers over the last few months. Nissan is now completing its switch from centralized online reservations for the car to treating it...
John Voelcker -
Tree-Hugger? Nah, This Nissan Leaf Owner Hugs Corners, Beats Gas Cars
There are some who might say the Nissan Leaf is a bit of a car for wimps. A hippy car. Or even a car for those who don't really think we should be driving cars at all. Tell that to the guys who take their Leafs to autocross events--and even beat those racing on internal combustion. Of course, the...
Antony Ingram