California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025; Manufacturers Agree, Dealers Object

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.

It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.

By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.

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We Didn’t Start the Fire: Nissan Says its Leaf EV Proved its Safety Credentials During Tsunami

The much-talked about Chevy Volt safety probe on the issue of its lithium-ion batteries and the recent announcement that 50 of the Fisker Karmas already delivered may face a similar short circuit problem, has led to much skepticism and debate about whether electric cars are safe enough in the event of an accident.

There are always two sides to the coin though and Nissan is currently making hay out of its rival’s problems.

After the March tsunami that devastated Japan and its manufacturers, about two dozen Leaf EVs were destroyed. According to Nissan, none of the cars caught fire and their battery packs remained intact thanks to the airtight exosleketon, plus an additional two layers of protection that surround them.

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Nissan Heads to 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon with 10 Models Including Skyline 55th Limited Edition

The 2012 edition of Japan's largest annual aftermarket event, the Tokyo Auto Salon, will see Nissan in cooperation with its in-house tuners Autech Japan and NISMO presenting 10 models, most of which we've already seen in previous shows such as the Juke NISMO Concept that was displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier this month.
Nissan will showcase two models, the GT-R Pure Edition equipped with the right-hand drive only Track Pack and the JDM Skyline (sold in the rest if the world as the Infiniti G37) 55th Limited Edition, which commemorates the series' 55th anniversary and features bespoke aeroparts and a sportier chassis setup.
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Put a Socket on it: Nissan Celebrates Leaf's First Birthday with an Ad

It's been about 365 days or a year since Nissan launched its new pure-electric Leaf onto the market and to celebrate the event, the Japanese company released a commercial featuring household electric-sockets singing the traditional 'happy birthday song'.

Over the course of a year, Nissan says it has sold more than 19,000 Leaf hatchbacks worldwide. In the U.S., sales of the all-electric model have totaled 8,720 units through the end of November. Just this week, Nissan announced that it is going to expand the availability of the Leaf to seven more states starting from spring of 2012.

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Nissan Expands Availability of Leaf EV to 7 More States Across America

On the heels of the one-year anniversary of the first delivery of the Leaf on December 11, Nissan announced on Tuesday that it is expanding the availability of its dedicated electric model into new U.S. territories. Read more »

Nissan Leaf Scores a Hat-Trick by Winning Japanese Car of the Year Award

The Leaf is proving to be not only a commercial hit for Nissan, having sold 20,000 units already this year, but a collector of automotive awards as well.

The latest trophy won by the Leaf is the "Car of the Year Japan 2011-2012", which was announced at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s all-electric model has also won the World and European Car of the Year awards this year.

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NISMO Adds Some Zing to Nissan Leaf EV with New Concept at Tokyo Motor Show

This has been a rough year for Japanese automakers but if there's one company from the Land of the Rising Sun that's showing a lot of potential, that would be Nissan - be that with its quirky looking Juke crossover, the pure electric Leaf or the tarmac-shredding GT-R sports car.

Perhaps the most important news coming from Nissan at the Tokyo Motor Show is the company's decision to heavily invest in its performance arm NISMO and expand its offerings to include more focused editions of Nissan's mainstream models.

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Top Gear Producer Praises Electric Car Test Spoof [Video]

The world’s most famous car show, BBC’s Top Gear, has had more than its fair share of controversies, mainly due to the sardonic comments of host Jeremy Clarkson.

Never mind the “greens”, Jeremy’s current favorite car is the Mercedes-Benz SLS. He is a petrolhead and apparently, not too fond of electric vehicles. Especially since the Tesla Roadster incident which led to the two parties becoming engaged in a legal battle.

Apart from being a car show, though, Top Gear is also about entertainment. This prompted two fans of the show to record a spoof video demonstrating an “eco race” between two zero emission vehicles: a “Nissan Leaf” and a “Peugeot iOn”.

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Nissan Gives Away 400 Quick Chargers in Europe to Speed up Development of Charging Network

Electric cars are gathering momentum, as is clear by sales of models like the Nissan Leaf. However, the infrastructure is crucial in deciding if EVs will become a viable alternative to gasoline and diesel engine cars.

Nissan has decided to widen the European EV recharging network by donating 400 quick chargers to charging operators. The new charger, which is smaller and up to 50% cheaper than the previous version, can top up the battery to 80% of its total capacity in 30 minutes, giving EV car owners much greater freedom in their choice of destination.

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Chevy Volt Sales Close to 50% up in October, Outsells Nissan Leaf for the First Time

So far, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has been the winner in the battle with the Volt extended-range hybrid, clearly outselling Chevy’s offering for the first half of 2011.

But not anymore: for the first time since the two models went on sale, GM announced that it sold 1,108 units in October, an increase of almost 50% over September’s 723 sales.

This is the first time Chevy’s hybrid outsold its main rival in the U.S. market, the Nissan Leaf, which last month sold 849 units compared to September’s figure of 1,031 deliveries.

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Nissan Drops Price of LEAF Home Charging System to $1,818

Good news for American customers interested in acquiring Nissan's pure-electric LEAF hatchback with a home charging system as the Japanese company announced today a noteworthy price drop.

When Nissan released pricing for the LEAF in 2010, the home charging system, developed by AeroVironment, carried an MSRP of US$2,200. Now it is available at a cost of US$1,818, including hardware and installation services for or a typical home fitting.

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Evatran Presents Wireless Charging Station for Electric Vehicles

Plug-in hybrids seem to be all the rage these days, from Chevrolet’s Volt to Nissan’s Leaf and the soon to be launched in the U.S. market, Toyota Prius Plug-In. And there are many more vehicles capable of running on electric power to follow.

However, their owners must not forget to charge them, usually overnight, or they’ll wake up next morning and discover they’ve run out of electric juice. In addition, they need to know their way around with the charging cords –not an easy task as any computer geek knows very well.

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California Drops $5,000 Rebate on Electric Cars

Electric car buyers in California will have to reach deeper in their pockets as the state has run out of the $5,000 rebates it was handing out to customers interested in vehicles like the Nissan LEAF and the Tesla Roadster. The generous rebate was given on top of the $7,500 tax credit offered by the government.

As for the 500 owners of electric cars that are currently on the waiting list to receive the rebate, California’s Air Resources Board said it will consider providing them with a $2,500 discount. Not what they signed up for, but still better than nothing.

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The Price of Success: Nissan Raises 2012 Leaf Prices Between $2,420 and $3,530!

Well, that didn’t take long did it? Only a year after launch and while the Leaf is leading the eco-friendly sales race against GM’s Chevrolet Volt, Nissan today announced that it is lifting the base price of the 2012 model year version of its pure-electric hatchback between 7 and 11 percent, depending on the trim grade!

In particular, the entry-level 2012 Leaf SV is now priced at $35,200, or 7.38% more than the 2011MY’s $32,780 sticker. The higher grade Lead SL enters the 2012MY priced at $37,250, an increase of $3,530 or 11.3% more over the 2011MY.

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Video: Nissan LEAF Climbs the Pikes Peak

Last month, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima broke his own record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a sub 10 minutes time in a 910-horsepower modified Suzuki SX4 racecar.

Now, Nissan’s first all-electric car, the LEAF, has tackled the 156 turns of the “Race to the Clouds”. Naturally, “Monster” Tajima can rest assured that his record remains safe.

That’s not to say that the LEAF driven by Chad Hord didn’t record a respectable time. After all, 14 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 51.2 mph (82.4 km/h) is not to be laughed at for an EV that used just 46% of its charge to cover the demanding 12.42 miles (20 km) hill climb.

Watch the LEAF climb the Pikes Peak after the jump.

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Nissan Leaf Outsells Chevy Volt in Electric Car Battle During the first half of 2011

The battle for supremacy in the electric car category has begun –even though at present there are only two prime contestants. According to Bloomberg, the Nissan LEAF sold 3,875 cars the first half of the year, compared to 2,745 of GM’s Volt over the same period.

From January through May, the Volt was only 17 cars behind the Leaf, but in the following month, sales of the Volt plunged to just 561 cars, while those of the LEAF took off with a record 1,708 units, giving Nissan’s EV the lead. The LEAF costs $33,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, while the Volt costs $41,000 before government incentives.

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Nissan to Claim Two Oddball Speed Records at Goodwood Festival

Without doubt, one of the highlights of this year’s edition of the famous Goodwood hill climb will be Nissan’s participation. And no, we’re not talking about the Sumo Power GT team’s GT1 race-winning Nissan GT-R, but for the Juke small crossover and the Leaf EV.

You see, the Japanese company has set its sights on claiming two special records at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that takes place in Britain on 1-3 July with the aforementioned models.

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Ghosn Says Nissan will Sell Record Number of Leaf EVs in the US this June

The battle for sales supremacy in the eco-friendly segment between Nissan’s pure electric Leaf and GM’s extended range Chevrolet Volt is really heating up lately, with the two models separated by only 17 cars in U.S. sales figures so far this year.

And while GM is betting on the introduction of a slightly lower priced base model as well as the extended availability of the Volt in all 50 states to win this battle, Nissan is counting on increasing output to ease customer delays after production was disrupted by the Japan’s earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

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Nissan Leaf vs Chevrolet Volt: Who will Win the Sales Battle?

Even though the new Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt are two very different cars when it comes to details, they do have a common denominator: they are the most technologically advanced eco-friendly vehicles that are mass-produced and readily available in the U.S. market. That said, it’s interesting to see how they’re doing in sales this year.

Believe it or not, it’s a fierce neck-to-neck sales battle so far in 2011 with only 17 cars separating the Leaf from the Volt. Nissan has delivered 2,184 examples of the pure-electric Leaf from January to the end of May, while GM has sold 2,167 units of Chevrolet’s extended range electric vehicle in the same period.

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Nissan Pays Top Execs Twice as Much as Toyota and Honda

Toyota’s executives must be green with envy once they hear the salaries of their counterparts in Nissan. That is because, Nissan’s top directors were paid more than twice as much for the fiscal year that ended last March than their equals at Toyota, according to a report from Bloomberg. And this despite the fact that Toyota is Japan’s biggest car manufacturer and Nissan is number two.

In a statement that Nissan issued before its annual meeting on June 29, average salary, including bonuses, for 14 executives was 126 million yen, or $ 1.6 million. In comparison, Toyota paid its 38 directors and auditors an average of about 41 million yen per executive.

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