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Pages with tag Nissan

  • 2018 Nissan Leaf makes North American Debut
  • INFINITI TO GO ELECTRIC FROM 2021
  • Maker of worlds best-selling electric vehicle announces pricing for the new longer-range Nissan Leaf Plus
  • Nissan IMx KURO concept vehicle debuts at Geneva Motor Show
  • Nissan Leaf E+ joins worlds best selling electric vehicle family
  • Nissan and BMW partner once again to expand DC Fast Charger access across the U.S. to benefit EV drivers: More expansion of dual-protocol DC fast chargers is coming, with continued partnership between BMW and Nissan. The 50 kW charging rate won't provide good service to the coming 200+ mile range electric cars, since a full recharge at 50 kW is 1.5 to 2 hrs. Will eVgo realize this and upgrade to 100 kW or faster chargers eventually? And, will eVgo change their policies to allow charging sessions longer than 30 minutes? The attached map doesn't indicate they're thinking about long distance travel corridors either.
  • Nissan and EVgo expand charging network with 200 new fast chargers: The coming wave of robocars requires robotic charging systems it seems. All the automakers are planning autonomously driven cars, that require no human driver, to provide automated taxi services - kind of like Uber or Yellow Cab but without the driver. Such robotaxi's will need charging stations, and Stable looks to provide fast charging services for these robotaxi's. The first step is a pilot project in San Francisco.
  • Nissan and EVgo open 'I-95 Fast Charging Arc' - EV driving between Boston and Washington DC:

    Nissan and EVgo have teamed up on another "Arc", meaning a series of EV Fast Charging stations connecting points A and B. In this case the route between Boston and Washington DC seems, going by the PlugShare map, to be already well-populated with fast charging services. More charging stations are certainly a good thing, however, and will encourage more of us to drive electric on longer trips. In this case it appears the maximum charging rate is 50 kW, which isn't sufficient for road trips, but the press release also says the facilities have been designed to support 150 kiloWatt fast charging in the future.

  • Nissan announces U.S. pricing for 2019 LEAF: The Nissan Leaf is still one of the most affordable electric cars available. However, how can one justify a Leaf when for about the same price GM offers the Chevy Bolt with a larger range. Having a 150 mile range in the Leaf is a big step forward over the 72 mile range on the 2011 Leaf, but the competition has a 238 mile range for not much more. Surely this is why GM is selling more Bolt's than Nissan is selling Leaf's.
  • Nissan at Geneva Motor Show 2018: transforming the way we drive, transforming the way we live
  • Nissan brain-to-vehicle technology redefines future of driving
  • Nissan builds EV test car with twin-motor all-wheel control technology
  • Nissan cancels sale of its Battery manufacturing business to GSR Capital:

    Since launching the LEAF, Nissan's battery packs came from its subsidiary Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC). In August 2017, Nissan announced it would sell that subsidiary to GSR Capital. On July 1, 2018, Nissan announced it was canceling the sale. GSR Capital, a Chinese investment company, was unable to raise the funds by the June 29 deadline. Clearly the batteries made by AESC were not desirable enough to warrant an investment. According to Reuters, Nissan sought to sell its battery business as part of a plan to get lower-cost batteries from other manufacturers, such as LG Chem who supplies sister company Renault. Nissan has talked with other battery manufacturers about purchasing the AESC subsidiary. Panasonic is quoted by Reuters saying they're not interested in buying the manufacturing equipment used by other makers, and that Nissan's formulation is not all that interesting.

  • Nissan delivers the 300,000th electric vehicle
  • Nissan sells its Battery manufacturing business to GSR Capital -- Preparing switch to LG Chem batteries?:

    Since launching the LEAF, Nissan's battery packs came from its subsidiary Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC). That subsidiary is now being sold to GSR Capital. The deal is being spun as a win-win as GSR Capital has deep pockets necessary to develop this battery business faster than Nissan could. Supposedly.

    That might be accurate, ...or... It's long been rumored that Nissan wants to switch to LG Chem battery packs. If Nissan had switched to LG Chem batteries by now, the 2018 Leaf (due to be released soon) might have had a 200+ mile range with a 60 kWh pack. Instead the 2018 Leaf is rumored to have a 40 kWh pack which would give a respectable-but-not-competitive 150-180 mile range.

    According to CleanTechnica, (cleantechnica.com) NEC also sold its portion of this business to GSR Capital. According to Nikkei, where Panasonic had a growing EV battery marketshare due to its partnerships with Tesla and Toyota and others, NEC relied on Nissan and Nissan is looking to broaden its battery supply chain.

    Nissan originally built batteries in Japan. With the shift to localized Leaf production in 2013, Nissan launched battery factories in both England and Tennessee. The original vision was that owning the battery factory would give Nissan an economic/price advantage. One supposes that would have only held true if Leaf sales had risen enough, but instead Leaf sales have held steady for several years.

    In any case, the Renault side of the Nissan-Renault alliance already uses LG Chem batteries. That partnership has been very good for adoption of the Renault Zoe in Europe. A Leaf with better batteries should sell very well.

  • Nissan tests fully autonomous prototype technology on streets of Tokyo:

    In the 4+ years since BMW started mass production of the BMW i3, sales have reached nearly 100,000 electric and plug-in-hybrid BMW i3's, and yearly production capacity stands at around 25,000 vehicles. By comparison, that is one quarter of Tesla's production capacity for the Model S and Model X, meaning that Tesla Motors has achieved a faster production growth velocity than BMW. In any case the BMW i3 is a fine electric car, and BMW has achieved a significant milestone.

    One step taken to mark the occasion is innauguration of a second-life battery facility at the BMW i3 factory in Leipzig. The phrase "second life" means that after a battery pack's first life as the traction battery in a car, it can be repurposed as an energy storage unit.

    What happens to an electric car battery pack that's depleted to 80% usable capacity? That battery still has significant usable capacity, and can be reused. In theory. Hence the "second life" concept.

    The facility being built by BMW will hold 700 BMW i3 battery packs, some recycled from old cars, the others from newly produced packs. It is to be paired with wind turbines on the site, to time-shift some of the electricity produced by those turbines to being used at other times of day.

  • Nissan unveils world's first Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell vehicle
  • Tesla Prep For Model 3, Lucid Air PR, Self-Driving Bolt EV -- Transport Evolved Feb 10, 2017: To prepare for start of Model 3 production, Tesla Motors will do a short factory shutdown in order to install the necessary equipment (tooling, etc). Audi has been trash-talking Tesla Motors, claiming Audi will supply the first properly Premium Electric Car. Honda put out a strange fuel cell advertising campaign. Hyundai Ioniq beginning deliveries in USA, but with only 120 miles range probably cannot compete against Chevy Bolt. Because of Dieselgate, Volkswagen is launching its Electrify America plan with a website and a request for ideas. Nissan is in trouble for emissions of its Diesel powered vehicle. Lucid Air giving test drives to select people. The Tesla Model X can be easily accessed with just a screwdriver. Both Tesla and SpaceX joined a large group of Hi-Tech companies complaining about the Trump Administration Muslim travel ban. GM released a new video on progress towards a self-driving car. Electric car sales in the UK totaled 4.2% in January 2017.
  • Tesla Prep For Model 3, Lucid Air PR, Self-Driving Bolt EV -- Transport Evolved Feb 18, 2017: GM expands Maven car sharing to Los Angeles. Latest Tesla update provides real-time Supercharger status, preparing for an influx of more EV drivers. Adds data about congestion at upcoming supercharger stations so you can make additional plans. Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Sedan recalled for software glitch that's expected to be rare but wasn't found in testing. EV Sales in Norway, where electric car sales are extremely popular, top 37 percent of new car sales last month (January 2017). That's just 13% from bypassing the 50% sales level. Hyundai announces $29,500 entry-level price (MSRP) for 2017 IONIQ EV, and combined with tax incentives it is extremely affordable. Jason Hughes, a famous Tesla Hacker, hacks his Model S to make it 30% more powerful. Electric bus maker, Proterra CEO predicts one-third of all new busses will be electric in just four year’s time (by 2021), and by 2030 all such busses will be electric. Daimler announces their Smart brand will become an all-electric brand in the U.S., completely eschewing gasoline. Was Waymo’s Brain Drain caused by overpaying its staff? It seems Waymo's parent company (Google/Alphabet) paid those employees enough to make them independently wealthy, allowing them to leave to start their own self-driving-vehicle startups. Kia exec says NIRO EV will hit market in 2018. Mercedes-Benz starts small series production for Daimler Urban eTruck. A patient Bolt EV owner has driven their car 300 miles on a charge, or 70 miles more than the EPA rating.