Nissan News
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Earlier this year we heard that the a United Nations committee on noise levels in plug-in vehicles was about to mandate that all plug-in cars be made to emit artificial noises when traveling at low speed. But as we’ve illustrated in the past, we’re not entirely convinced that forcing electric cars to make a noise at low speed is really that much of a help to pedestrians in the real world. Real Life Guinea-Pig With that in mind, we set about conducting a series of completely tests with the aid of a partially sighted pedestrian who we accosted on the street and was only too happy to...
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2011 Nissan Leaf One Week In: Five Things We HateA week ago I took charge of my very own 2011 Nissan Leaf. The U.K. equivalent of the 2011 Nissan Leaf SL ordered by our own Marty Padgett last year, it includes a level 3 fast charge port and 12v solar panel as standard. But with over 560 miles now on the clock shared between two drivers and a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Nissan Versa: New Compact To Launch At New York Auto ShowAll we know so far is that Nissan will show a small car at the New York Auto Show, where media days kick off two weeks from tomorrow. But it's highly likely that the car will be an all-new 2012 Nissan Versa. It will be the latest entrant in a brewing battle among new and recently redesigned compact...
John Voelcker -
2011 Tata Indica Vista EV Shown in U.K., On Sale This SummerIf you’re in the market for an electric car there are currently very few highway capable vehicles available. But for those in the U.K. another option will soon be on the market courtesy of an Indian firm which aims to make its electric cars the market leaders. Tata Motors, unfortunately...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chevy Volt Outsells Nissan Leaf Again: March Electric Car SalesThe 2011 Chevy Volt continues to outsell the 2011 Nissan Leaf, but during March, the Japanese battery electric car at last started to move noticeable numbers of cars--almost five times as many as it sold in February. The two major-manufacturer plug-ins currently on the market sold a total of 906...
John Voelcker -
Renting an Electric Car: When Is It Smart, When Is It Dumb?One way for potential buyers to get familiar with electric cars is to rent one. Several rental companies, among them Enterprise, have announced plans to rent 2011 Nissan Leaf and other electric models at selected locations. Renting an electric car lets you spend far more time in one than the...
George Parrott -
Level 3 fast charging is blisteringly fast. In fact, we got to try it out in the real world this week, recharging a 2011 Nissan Leaf from 30% full to 98% full in a little under 25 minutes. But while your electric car gets a quick refresh, here’s our list of five top things to keep you occupied. Grab a Coffee 25 minutes is just about enough time to visit the local coffee shop and replenish your own reserves. If you’ve been driving your electric car from full to empty you’ll probably need a break too: it is generally considered that driving for more than two hours at a time...
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2011 Denver Auto Show: 2011 Nissan LEAF Makes Its First Rocky Mountain DebutAs what can only be a positive sign for the Rocky Mountain region, Nissan has brought a 2011 Nissan LEAF to the 2011 Denver Auto Show. Since Denver is my home base I feel that it is important to make sure that the general public knows that they can go to the 2011 Denver Auto Show, pay their $10...
Jonathan McGrew -
Who Knew? A Car Battery Is the World's Most Recycled ProductA concern raised over upcoming electric-drive cars--the all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid--is what happens to their lithium-ion battery packs once the car's life ends. Images of those battery packs tossed over cliffs or littering...
John Voelcker -
Electric Car Tax for Washington Gets One Step Closer to LawIf you’re a regular reader of AllCarsElectric then you’ll know that electric cars are much cheaper to run than gasoline cars once you’ve actually purchased them, but electric cars in Washington state are just about to get a little more expensive to run thanks to a proposed law...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Can Think Really Sell Enough $41,000 City Electric Cars In U.S.?Electric cars are much on the minds of green buyers these days, despite limited supplies of the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But there's also a second tier of suppliers, beyond the major carmakers, that also offers or plans to offer buyers their own plug-in electric vehicles. One such...
John Voelcker -
Electric Cars: How the 2011 Nissan Leaf & 2011 Chevy Volt DifferNot all electric cars are the same. Buyers can now choose between "pure" battery electric vehicles and a car with a combination power train termed either a range-extended electric vehicle, which uses a gasoline engine to generate electricity to run the car, or a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that adds...
George Parrott -
On August 31, 2010, Nissan opened the ordering process for its 2011 Leaf, and over the follow months has gradually extended the initial markets on the West Coast and Tennessee to include a wider geography. The ordering process for the 2011 Nissan Leaf is unlike that for almost any previous new car. Nissan has received compliments for accepting orders at the corporate level, working directly with end customers, and then--after the order was initiated at the corporate level--letting the customer picked a dealer where they would pick up their 2011 Leaf. Dealers competed to get Leaf orders sent...
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2011 Nissan Leaf: How Much Would YOU Pay to Jump the Queue?The U.S. rollout of the 2011 Nissan Leaf has been a bit of a disaster with some would-be Leaf owners still waiting to find out when their local dealer will stock the all-electric car nearly a year after pre-reservations started. So how much would you pay to jump the queue completely and get an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Green Car Parade Kicks Off Countdown to 2011 Denver Auto ShowSmall cars are our business here at AllSmallCars.com and we love an event that features small cars—especially when a lot of press and consumers are around. Today marked the 4th Annual Green Car Parade in Denver, Colo., where dealers from around the state bring their greenest cars to be a part...
Jonathan McGrew -
FAIL: U.K. Meter Maid Tickets Electric Car While it ChargedPolice traffic and parking control officers have an important job: they help keep traffic flowing in major cities and also ensure that cars are parked legally and safely. But local authorities in the U.K. city of Coventry are under fire after one of its parking enforcement officers ticketed an...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Earthquake Update: Nissan to Resume Vehicle Production “While Supplies Last”A little under two weeks ago Japan was hit by one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded. Measuring in at 9.0 on the richter scale and causing a devastating tsunami which killed tens of thousands and lay waste to hundreds of miles of coastline, Japan is still in an advance state of emergency. Yet...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
(VIDEO): Ancestral Electric Cars: What Came Before the 2011 Leaf?We all know about the latest electric cars to come from the likes of Ford, General Motors and Nissan. But while they may be the latest they are certainly not the first. In the first of a series of fun trips back in time, we’re looking at the ancestors of electric cars we see coming to market...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
If you listen to the enthusiastic founder and CEO of Better Place Shai Agassi, the ability to swap depleted electric car battery packs for fully charged ones at a dedicated swap station is an essential and much-needed part of electric vehicle infrastructure. But while the ultra-fast way of getting another 100+ miles of range into your electric car is to date the most hassle-free way of recharging even Better Place’s project partners are struggling to see a way to rollout battery swap stations for some time to come. “Better Place is brilliant,” said Renault U.K. head of...
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Electric Car Factory: Think Sets Up Shop In Indiana, RV-LandQuick, name the electric cars currently on sale. Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and ... ummmm ... oh, yeah, Smart Electric Drive. Now name the ones built in the States. Hmmmm. Volt, right? Think about it Yes, but you've missed out on one--in both categories. It's the Think City, which is now being...
John Voelcker -
(VIDEO) First 2011 Nissan Leaf Delivered in U.K., More to FollowNissan Europe has officially started rollout of its 2011 Nissan Leaf to customers in the U.K., with multiple cars being handed over this morning to private customers at multiple dealers across the U.K. Radio Presenter Mark Goodier was the first customer in the U.K. to take delivery of the five seat...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Running on Empty: The Problem With Electric Car Fuel GaugesJust a few months in and we’re already hearing stories of electric car owners getting stranded as their new electric cars ‘suddenly’ run out of power. We’ve already examined the reasons behind why two 2011 Nissan Leaf drivers recently found themselves stranded without...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Is The 2011 Nissan Leaf The Truly Invisible Electric Car?After three weeks of using our new 2011 Nissan Leaf for most of our local commuting, it has a valued and important place in our two-car family. We appreciate the driving economy and features of the car. But it has been shocking how little notice the car has received. As one of the first half-dozen...
George Parrott -
2011 Nissan Leaf Leaves Owners Stranded: What Really Happened?Every new car has a few teething problems, but a few reports of Nissan's all-electric Leaf running out of charge prematurely hasn't helped the age-old stereotype that electric cars will leave their owners stranded without power. But are these incidents as rare as the reports suggest and what...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield