Tennessee

  • First 2018 Nissan Leaf produced at assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, Dec 2017

    Today, battery-electric cars are built in volume at only three locations across the entire United States. Tesla builds its three different electric models in Fremont, California; the new 2018 Nissan Leaf has just gone into production in Smyrna, Tennessee; and the Chevrolet Bolt EV is built at the Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan. Ford also builds very small numbers of its Focus Electric compliance car alongside gasoline Focus models in Wayne, Michigan. DON'T MISS: 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car now rolling off lines in Tennessee This month, Ford CEO Jim Hackett said the company's upcoming...

  • First 2018 Nissan Leaf produced at assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, Dec 2017
    2018 Nissan Leaf electric car now rolling off lines in Tennessee

    The 2018 Nissan Leaf electric car will start to appear at Nissan dealers in January, the company said Monday. That availability came in an announcement that the second-generation electric car officially went into production the same day at Nissan's sprawling assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee...

  • Volkswagen ID Neo concept, 2016 Paris auto show
    VW plans to build electric cars somewhere in N America after 2020

    Volkswagen will build electric cars based on its MEB platform in North America beginning in 2021.

  • 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf
    VW likely to build electric cars in North America by 2020: executive

    Volkswagen may build an electric car in North America beginning in 2020.

  • 2014 Nissan Leaf
    2014 Nissan Leaf Domestic Content: Now Closer To Volt, Focus Electric

    Last fall, we learned that the first year of U.S. production of the Nissan Leaf electric cars, built in Smyrna, Tennessee, had only 15 percent North American content. This year, the numbers are somewhat better--and they bring the Leaf closer to the domestic-content percentage of other plug-in...

  • 2014 Nissan Leaf
    With Demand Soaring, Nissan Leaf U.S. Production Could Double This Year

    With the 2014 Nissan Leaf going on sale this week and next, Nissan is poised to expand production and dramatically boost sales of its U.S.-built battery-electric hatchback. And if its CEO has his way, sales will double in 2014, from the 22,610 Leafs delivered in 2013 to 40,000 or more, perhaps as...

  • 2013 Nissan Leaf, Nashville area test drive, April 2013

    The 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car is assembled in Smyrna, Tennessee, for North American sales. In fact, Nissan got a low-interest loan for $1.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to make that possible. So why does every 2013 Leaf carry a window sticker saying that its U.S. and Canadian content is just 15 percent--while 80 percent of its parts content comes from Japan? Sticker shock The question arose in late July, coming from electric-car enthusiast Andrew Chiang, who photographed the sticker on a brand-new 2013 Leaf at Nissan Sunnyvale, in California. Chiang posted the photo in the...

  • 2013 Nissan Leaf, Nashville area test drive, April 2013
    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...

  • Large switch at photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee
    Volkswagen Installs Huge Solar Array At Chattanooga Plant

    Volkswagen flipped a large ceremonial switch yesterday that signaled the official launch of a huge array of photovoltaic solar cells at its Chattanooga assembly plant, which builds the Volkswagen Passat mid-size sedan. The new solar field can supply up to 12.5 percent of the plant’s total...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf 4-door HB SL Headlight
    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...

  • Nissan Smyrna Tennessee
    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...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Tennessee's Electric Car Rebate Fund Still Healthy

    If you live in Tennessee and you're holding out for more electric cars to hit the market, then you could be in luck. So far, only buyers of the Nissan Leaf have been benefitting from the $2,500 electric car rebate, with no other electric vehicles to choose from. The Tennessean reveals that, of the...

  • Rapid Charging Station Tennessee Gas Station

    Over the past few months we’ve seen an increase in the number of rapid charging stations getting installed in areas where the 2011 Nissan Leaf is being sold. So far, we’ve seen rapid charging stations get installed everywhere from Walgreens to Cracker Barrel and Washington state’s I-5, nicknamed the “Electric Highway” Now a gas station in Tennessee has become what we think is the country’s first gas station to offer a chademo rapid-charging station alongside its gasoline pumps. Murphy Express Gas on Lee Highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee has installed the...

  • Nissan lithium-ion battery pack plant under construction, Smyrna, Tennessee, Jan 2011
    Nissan: U.S. Built Nissan Leafs Will Be On Time For 2013 Launch

    The devastating earthquake and Tsunami which hit Japan back in March not only caused billions of dollars of damage, killed thousands and made many more homeless, but it also crippled a large part of the auto industry, both in Japan and around the world. With everything from parts to paint becoming...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Earthquake To Delay U.S. Assembly of Nissan Leaf Electric Cars?

    By far the most ambitious plan to build and assemble electric cars in the U.S. comes not from General Motors or Ford, but from Nissan. Now, it may happen a little later than expected, due to the March 11 earthquake and resulting tsunami that severely damaged large portions of Japan's industrial...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    2011 Nissan Leaf Laurels: Euro Car of the Year, U.S. Cell Plant Underway

    Initial deliveries of the 2011 Nissan Leaf battery electric car have been fitful, compared to hundreds of Chevy Volts sold each week. But Nissan's first modern mass-produced battery electric car continues to rack up accomplishments (and the company says it will be at full production by March)...

  • ECOtality Blink DC fast charger plugged in
    Cracker Barrel Installing EV Charge Points At Tennessee Stores

    Cracker Barrel, not exactly the bastion of green technology, has launched a pilot program that will see a number of EV charge points installed at 24 of the restaurant chain’s outlets across the state of Tennessee. The company that prides itself on old-style country stores is taking a very...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life