Nissan News

  • 2012 Nissan Versa sedan launch, New York Auto Show, April 2011

    If you've been paying any attention at all, you'll see new-car ads touting the magical "40 mpg highway" number in big print. You'll see a whole lot of car ads, in fact, for vehicles that include the 2011 Ford Fiesta SFE, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco (with six-speed manual), 2011 Hyundai Elantra (all versions)--and, soon, the 2012 Hyundai Accent that was just launched at the New York Auto Show. Another 40-mpg entry will be the HF version of the 2012 Honda Civic, that model's highest-mileage non-hybrid gasoline vehicle. And none of them are hybrids either. Hyundai has been hammering its 40-mpg...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car during IIHS crash testing
    Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Get Top IIHS Crash-Safety Ratings

    Among the many things that confuse or worry potential buyers of plug-in electric cars is whether they'll be safe. One concern is car washes or even deep pools of water, but another is whether the battery pack will be damaged or dangerous in an accident. Well, now you can chalk that last one off the...

  • 2011 Wheego Whip LiFe electric car
    Wheego Ships First LiFe Electric Car on Earth Day

    Late last week a couple in Atlanta, Georgia became the first owners of the latest battery electric car to hit the roads, the 2011 Wheego LiFe. Handed over to commemorate Earth Day 2011, the small electric car which bears a passing resemblance to the 2011 Smart ForTwo electric drive is the first...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf stickers
    2011 New York Auto Show: Nissan LEAF Named 2011 World Car of the Year

    The 2011 New York Auto Show is full of concepts, the newest production cars available to consumers and awards. One of the coveted awards during the New York Auto Show is the World Car of the Year. Cars in the running included the BMW 5-Series and Audi A8, but the prevailing winner was the...

  • Long-Distance Electric Car Trips by Night
    Range Anxiety or Stupidity? Pushing an Electric Car to its Limits

    Yesterday we told you about our generally hassle-free, two-day, 520 mile round trip in a 2011 Nissan Leaf. Thanks to a succession of available rapid charging stations, a little measured driving and a few strategic detours we were able to arrive at both destination and start point without little...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf does 520 Miles in 2 days
    2011 Nissan Leaf, 520 Miles, 2 Days: Here's How

    We all know electric cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf were designed to satisfy the daily driving needs of 90% of the population. For most cars, that translates to a life in or near a large metropolis, where daily commutes are between 10 and 40 miles. But with rapid charging capable of fast-charging...

  • John Duncan takes delivery of one of the first 2011 Nissan LEAF EVs, near Portland OR, 12/15/2010

    Over the past year we’ve seen the 2011 Nissan Leaf win plenty of awards, including the accolade of European Car of The Year and even GreenCarReports’ Best Car to Buy 2011. But while its main competitor, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, may have more awards to its name than Nissan’s first attempt at an all-electric mass-produced family hatchback, the Leaf has nabbed the title of the 2011 World Car of The Year. No Volt The eagle-eyed reader will note that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, despite beating the Leaf in sales figures every month since its launch, wasn’t even on the list of...

  • BMW ActiveE electric car, at BMW Manhattan media event, April 2011
    BMW Exec Trashes Electric Cars, Tax Credits at Launch of ActiveE

    In the rulebook of product promotion, remembering to not say horrible things about your product has to be number one. It’s a shame BMW North America President and CEO Jim O’Donnell seems to have forgotten that fact while taking part in a public event. Speaking on Monday at an event in...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept, New York Auto Show, April 2011
    Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept: New York Auto Show Live Photos

    Blue light bathed the concept car in the corner before Nissan launched its 2012 Versa sedan at the 2011 New York Auto Show today. The images were so striking we thought we'd bring you a photo gallery of Nissan's electric race-car concept, just so you can see it from all angles, looking like nothing...

  • Value of Zero Nissan Ad
    Nissan’s New Electric Car Ad Zeroes In On Weird Coincidences (Video)

    What links a 1985 novel about a drug-addicted rich boy with the 2011 Nissan Leaf? Nothing, or something? It turns out to be both. You see, the 1985 novel Less Than Zero, later dramatized in 1987 as a film featuring a fresh-faced 22 year-old Robert Downey Jr., has a remarkably similar title to...

  • 2012 Nissan Tiida hatchback, launched at Auto Shanghai 2011
    Is This The 2012 Nissan Versa Hatchback? Photos From Shanghai

    At 10:40 am tomorrow, Nissan will kick off its press conference at the New York Auto Show. We already know it'll display the Leaf Nismo RC Concept electric racer, but that's a sideshow. The real interest will be in the new 2012 Nissan Versa subcompact. Today, at the Auto Shanghai show in China...

  • Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept
    2011 New York Auto Show Preview: Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept

    It might be just three days away from its official unveiling at the 2011 New York Auto Show, but Nissan just can’t help sharing its latest electric vehicle a little early. Called the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC - that’s Racing Competition - the all-electric race-prepared car looks a little...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf, Nashville, October 2010

    Occasionally, if something should go wrong, a Rolls-Royce will fail to proceed. So, too, will the Nissan Leaf--at least, under certain circumstances. More exactly, it will sometimes fail to start. But Nissan is fixing that with a service campaign announced today, affecting the nearly 8,000 Leafs built to date. The problem, as Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield reported on Monday, renders affected Leafs inoperable--essentially high-tech, high-value paperweights. Fortunately, Nissan says it has figured out the root cause of the problem and will be issuing a software update to fix it. Though potentially...

  • 2011 Coda Sedan at Hertz Global EV rental launch, New York City, December 2010
    Coda Automotive Needs Funding to Finish Delayed Electric Sedan

    What does $50 million buy you? We can think of plenty of good things we could do, but according to Californian electric car firm Coda Automotive, $50 million is how much it needs to bring its four door all-electric sedan to market. According to The New York Times, Christopher Rose, the...

  • Smart ForTwo ED
    Daimler Adds Bosch To Electric Car Collaborative Projects

    You’d be forgiven for thinking that German automaker Daimler was trying to build its own little electric car empire. Not only does it have active electric car projects running with Nissan-Renault, BYD and Tesla, but it has now announced intent to work on a project with the automotive arm of...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevy Volt, with charging station visible; photo by George Parrott
    Consumer Reports: Usually Thoughtful, Not Always Accurate

    Last week, the Associated Press distributed a video report called "Are Electric Cars Worth the Price?" (It's embedded at the bottom of this article.) The video featured this author as an example of someone who owns both the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and it included commentary...

  • BYD e6
    Reviewer Drives BYD E6: Verdict? "One Trick Pony"

    Chinese automaker BYD, or "Build Your Dreams" has big plans. They had a strong presence at the recent 2011 Geneva Motor Show with a lineup of production electric cars both present and future, and the company intends to break into the U.S. market, never an easy task for a maker with little brand...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    BREAKING: 2011 Nissan Leaf Start Failure - What You Need to Know

    A few days ago, we started hearing mumblings on the electric car grapevine which suggested that all was not well again with the 2011 Leaf, Nissan’s first ever all-electric production hatchback. It all began at the end of last month, when a 2011 Nissan Leaf owner reported that his car stopped...

  • 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV Prototype

    When the RAV4 EV reaches its Phase One stage next year, and a limited-production vehicle goes on sale, it will have one key difference versus the Phase Zero prototype we drove in the San Diego area this past week. While the RAV4 EV prototypes have a proprietary charge connector from Tesla Motors, the production version next year will have an industry standard, 220-volt SAE J1772 charge connector. But there definitely won't be any quick-charging capability. A quick charger would provide a lot of additional cost and mass, Toyota decided. According to Brown, adding a quick charger to the...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf UK Launch
    2011 Nissan Leaf One Week In: Five Things We Like

    As you may have seen earlier this week, I’ve been a proud owner of a 2011 Nissan Leaf since late last month. Today marks ten days since we took delivery. We’ve already shared the five things that we hate about the 2011 Leaf, so now it’s time to share the things we really like...

  • Electric-car charging, from NRG Energy
    Nissan: Electric Car Goal Only Possible With Governmental Help

    President Obama’s goal of 1 million hybrid and electric vehicles on the roads of the U.S. by 2015 may sound like a tall order given the slow sales rollout of plug-in cars for the first few months of 2012, but as we’ve discovered before, it isn’t impossible. Now Nissan, makers of...

  • 2012 Ford Focus
    2011 New York Auto Show: High-Mileage Compact Car Wars Heat Up

    We're barreling toward the 2011 New York Auto Show, where media days kick off in two weeks. While concept cars like the Lexus LF-Gh luxury hybrid sports sedan will get lots of attention, once the media leave, actual car buyers will be just as curious about fuel efficient cars with high gas mileage...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt on Wheel of Fortune
    Wheel of Fortune Solves the Puzzle With 2011 Chevrolet Volt

    We all know about the Wheel of Fortune contestant Caitlin Burke who solved the TV show’s prize puzzle with one letter and won herself a luxury Caribbean holiday, but what about driving away in a new car? This week, the long-running quiz show is greening up its act, offering a 2011 Chevrolet...

  • President Obama inspects the 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    Is Obama's Goal of 1 Million Plug-In Cars By 2015 Feasible?

    Since 2008, Barack Obama has consistently promoted the goal of having 1 million advanced technology vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. The number refers to plug-in vehicles that use grid power, stored in lithium-ion battery packs, to operate their electric traction motors. Regular hybrids like the...

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