Nissan has sold over 46,000 Nissan Leafs worldwide making it the most successful electric vehicle of all time. First released in late 2010, in limited markets, the Nissan Leaf is now available all over the world.
Last year, Nissan was ready to challenge the world record for the fastest ever reverse mile. At the last minute, safety officials cancelled the attempt after claiming a lack of adequate testing made the attempt too risky. This week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Nissan gets their second change. British stunt driver Terry Grant,… Continue reading Nissan re-attempts world record for driving in reverse
Last Friday, Tesla did the big Model S launch now that the Model S is rolling into production and out into the hands of buyers. At the launch event, chief technology officer J.B. Straubel announced that Tesla would be coming out with a 440-volt 90-kW supercharger that would recharge the 300 mile top of the… Continue reading Tesla says Model S can recharge in 1 hour and other interesting tidbits
Over the weekend, Nissan was accepting tweets as payment for cab rides in Nissan Leaf electric vehicles. Nissan said it was no skin off their backs to provide free cab rides since it’s 6 times cheaper to operate the Leaf over a conventional vehicle. The promotion was part of Nissan’s “The Big Turn On” campaign… Continue reading Free Nissan Leaf cab rides in London
Nissan is ambitiously expecting Leaf sales to double once the Tennessee plant comes online in December this year. The sales boost would give Nissan a change at hitting the 20,000 Leaf sales goal it had hoped for in their 2012 fiscal year (which ends March 31, 2013). The Smyrna TN plant will be ramped up… Continue reading Nissan Leaf sales expected to double when TN plant comes online
The EPA has finished testing the 2012 Tesla Model S, and it’s numbers are impressive. The Tesla Model S gets 89 MPGe combined (88 MPGe in the city and 90 MPGe on the highway). The range of the Tesla Model S has been declared at 265 miles per charge, which beats the Tesla Roadster by… Continue reading EPA rates Tesla Model S at 89 MPGe with 265-mile range
It’s been almost a year and a half since the Nissan Leaf was first available in the US and Japan. Now, the Nissan Leaf is available in Australia. Surprisingly, the Leaf costs $51,500 AUS which converts to about $52,400 US. There are also no government incentives in the country to help lower the cost for… Continue reading Nissan Leaf goes on sale in Australia
Consumer Reports isn’t happy with the Mitsubishi i and a recent article titled ‘With the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car, range anxiety is included’ paints a sad picture. Consumer Reports comments that the Nissan Leaf is a much better electric vehicle than the Mitsubishi i Miev, stating the i-MiEV is ‘crude and uncomfortable just as a… Continue reading Real world range of Mitsubishi i is 59 miles, according to Consumer Reports
Some owners on the Nissan Leaf forum have noticed that their Leaf dash only displays 11 of 12 capacity bars when the battery is fully charge, which leads them to believe they have lost some battery capacity. A full read through the forum thread reveals that both owners are in Arizona, and some are speculating… Continue reading Some Nissan Leaf owners are losing capacity bars
Nissan’s VP for product strategy and planning says ‘Plug-in Hybrid technology is a promising path. Clearly we are working on it.’ What exactly does that mean? Nissan executives were staying mum, but they were excited to talk about the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle. Nissan has big sales expectations for the Leaf – the Nissan Leaf… Continue reading Nissan predicting Leaf sales to increase sixfold by 2013
Last week the Infiniti LE was displayed at the New York Auto Show. This week, 2 Nissan spokesman told the Chicago Tribune that the Nissan factory in Smyrna Tennesse was the most likely place for the Infiniti LE to be built. The Infiniti LE, which stands for luxury electric, uses a very similar battery pack… Continue reading Infiniti LE may be built in Tennessee with the Leaf
Last week California announced a $120 million investment to install 10,000 charging stations throughout the state. The electric expressway will be built by NRG Energy Inc and will include 200 fast-charging stations, and 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations. “Nissan applauds California Governor Brown’s clear vision and strong commitment to electric vehicles through the $120… Continue reading California announces $120 million investment in charging stations
By the end of the year, Nissan plans on increasing the number of European dealerships carrying the Nissan Leaf by ten times, to 1,000 dealers total. Nissan is also aiming to have the Nissan Leaf available in 24 European markets by 2013. These plans are part of Nissan’s efforts to boost Leaf sales overseas. Nissan… Continue reading Nissan increasing European presence
Nissan has started, actually they are nearing completion, of a 1.3 million square-foot lithium ion battery facility in Smyrna, Tennessee. Nissan has spent $1.7 billion on the building and upgrades to the vehicle assembly site in addition to $1.4 billion from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan from the US government. Nissan says shipping cost… Continue reading Nissan is bringing Leaf production to Tennessee
Nissan USA has sent out an email to those who signed up to be ‘reminded’ of when they can order a Nissan Leaf. The email states the ‘Nissan LEAF will be available in US markets nationwide.’ ‘Your time has arrived. Orders for the 2012 Nissan LEAF will begin in March, making the Nissan LEAF available… Continue reading Email from Nissan says the Nissan Leaf will be available nation wide in March
Nissan Canada sent an email out today stating that reservations for the Nissan Leaf in Canada are open to the general public – regardless of location in the country. No more waiting for an invitation, and no more worry about missing your opportunity to start the process of getting your Nissan Leaf. The email also… Continue reading Reservations for the Nissan LEAF in Canada are now open to the general public
US Nissan Leaf owners can now take their Leaf in to their dealer to receive a second update as part of a ‘voluntary service campaign’. The service update is supposed to boost the accuracy of the Nissan Leaf’s on board range estimate display, which driver’s have been complaining about for a while. On the Nissan… Continue reading Nissan Leaf gets another service update
The new onslaught of vehicle technology, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, has consumers and experts alike confused, or so it seems. Kelley Blue Book has started a new rating called ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ and awards, and the winner in the electric vehicle category for 2012 was the Chevy Volt. KBB… Continue reading Even Kelley Blue Book seems anti-EV
Being a celebrity isn’t always a good thing, such as in the case of the man who won a Lamborghini in a contest and crashed it six hours later. On January 31st, at 7 oclock in the morning, a Nissan Leaf driver rear-ended an empty school bus – this event caused a lot of press,… Continue reading Electric vehicle accidents create mini-celebrities
