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Nissan

320 'Nissan' stories March 2014 - August 2016
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Nissan is looking to sell its battery business, reportedly in talks with Panasonic

Avatar for Fred Lambert Aug 5 2016 - 1:02 pm PT
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Back in 2007, Nissan and NEC, a Japenese tech giant, created a battery manufacturing company, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), in order to eventually supply the automaker’s electric vehicle programs. Both companies have since each invested hundreds of millions in the venture, which started producing the battery cells for the Nissan Leaf in 2010.

At some point in 2014, it became one of the largest electric vehicle battery manufacturers, second only to Panasonic, Tesla’s battery cell supplier. The joint-venture has since lost market shares and Nissan has been quite opened about looking to partner with someone else for future EV programs, like it’s new 60 kWh battery pack.

Now we learn that the automaker is looking to sell its shares in AESC and Panasonic could be a buyer.
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Nissan hopes to turn heads with 268HP EV BladeGlider prototype w/McLaren F1-type seating

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Aug 4 2016 - 2:07 pm PT
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Nissan today in Rio unveiled its BladeGlider “working prototype” which combines electric powertrain with a futuristic design and moderate 268 horsepower split between two rear 130kW electric motors. Max speed is quoted as nearly 200km/h (125 miles/hour), with 0-100km/h (0-62) taking less than five seconds.  No information was given on the battery pack size but as this is a two model exhibition car, it is likely to differ in a big way from any possible related production car.

The system features torque vectoring, controlling the torque delivered to the driven wheels, improving the handling even further. With torque vectoring, if the car starts to understeer, it automatically sends more torque to the outside wheel to restore the handling balance. Designed to add to the driving experience rather than govern it, the torque vectoring system has three settings: off, agile and drift mode. Power is supplied by a high performance, five module lithium-ion 220kW battery. Bespoke cooling systems have been developed for both the battery and the motors.


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Nissan engineers built a LEAF prototype with a 48 kWh battery pack

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jul 22 2016 - 4:33 pm PT
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While Nissan has upgraded the LEAF’s battery pack in its latest version with now a 30 kWh option, the low energy capacity of the vehicle is still a major factor dragging it down. Potential buyers would like to see better options with more range.

Nissan engineers actually built a LEAF with a bigger battery pack, but unfortunately, it is not intended for production and was built during their spare time.
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Nissan LEAF sales are in free-fall and Tesla Model 3 could have something to do with it

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jun 1 2016 - 1:26 pm PT
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Nissan was the first to introduce an upgraded battery pack to one of the mainstream electric cars, the LEAF’s new 30 kWh pack, and was only recently followed by BMW with the i3’s new pack and soon the VW e-Golf with its 2017 battery pack.

We were expecting that the new 30 kWh pack, which brings the LEAF’s range to 107 EPA-rated miles, would help erase its poor sales performance in the US in 2015 with 17,269 units versus 30,200 in 2014, but as it turns out, Nissan’s LEAF sales are still in free-fall in the US and the Tesla Model 3 could have something to do with it.
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Nissan claims the world’s largest electric taxi fleet deal with 110 new LEAF 30 kWh in Madrid

Avatar for Fred Lambert May 19 2016 - 10:44 am PT
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Today, Nissan announced a deal to provide 110 Nissan LEAFs with the new 30 kWh battery pack to La Ciudad del Taxi, a Madrid-based taxi company. The automaker is calling the transaction “the world’s largest 100 percent electric taxi fleet deal”.

The new 30 kWh battery pack option for the 2016 models gets 107 EPA-rated miles on a single charge.
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Nissan to launch a new vehicle-to-grid project with Enel in the UK

Avatar for Fred Lambert May 11 2016 - 7:55 am PT
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Nissan announced a major vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial project with Enel, a multinational power company, in the UK. The automaker has been exploring V2G systems almost as long as the Nissan LEAF program existed and its latest project is the first of its kind in the UK and one of the company’s biggest to date.

Nissan and Enel will install and connect 100 V2G units (see picture above) for Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 owners.
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Nissan CEO welcomes the storm of Tesla Model 3 reservations

Avatar for Fred Lambert Apr 6 2016 - 10:46 am PT
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Tesla has mostly welcomed electric vehicle competition since it contributes to its mission to accelerate the advent of electric transport, though it didn’t stop CEO Elon Musk to literally laugh at competition on occasions. Nissan is another automaker with a strong commitment to EVs and it has a similar approach to competition in the market.

CEO Carlos Ghosn commented on Tesla having received an impressive number of Model 3 reservations since unveiling the all-electric $35,000 sedan last week and he referred to the vehicle as “good competition.”.
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Nissan features autonomous and all-electric IDS concept in Geneva [Gallery]

Avatar for Fred Lambert Mar 4 2016 - 5:52 am PT
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We were very impressed last year when Nissan unveiled the IDS concept at a preview of the Tokyo Motor Show. At the time, the company described the concept as the embodiment of its vision for electric vehicles and self-driving cars going forward. This week, the company featured the concept at the Geneva Motor Show to announce what it calls its “Intelligent Mobility” vision.

Vision aside, the IDS concept features several technologies expected to make it into Nissan’s cars in the near future, especially its 60 kWh battery pack, which is expected to be featured in the next generation LEAF, and its Piloted Drive on the autonomous front, which should be available later this year in Japan and in Europe in 2017.
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Nissan LEAF sales still down in January in the US despite 2016 models – down 29%

Avatar for Fred Lambert Feb 2 2016 - 11:13 am PT
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Nissan released today its January sales report for the U.S. and revealed that LEAF sales are down 29.4% versus the same period last year. Until late in 2015, the company had the excuse of the upcoming 2016 models, which were affecting sales negatively as potential buyers were waiting for the upgrade, but the new cars arrived at dealerships and December was still a very disappointing month for Nissan’s all-electric vehicle.
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Nissan LEAF sales down 57% in December in the US, despite arrival of 2016 models – down 43% in 2015

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jan 6 2016 - 11:02 am PT
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Nissan released its December and 2015 sales reports for the U.S. and LEAF sales are down 42.8% in 2015 versus 2014. Until December, the company had the excuse of the upcoming 2016 models, which were affecting sales negatively, but the new cars arrived at dealerships last month and December was still a very disappointing month for Nissan’s all-electric vehicle.
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Nissan partners with Enel to revive its Vehicle-to-Grid initiative

Avatar for Fred Lambert Dec 15 2015 - 12:49 pm PT
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Nissan announced a partnership with Enel, Europe’s second largest power company for installed capacity, to develop a new “Vehicle-to-Grid” initiative to use, store and return to the grid electricity in excess from Nissan’s electric vehicles.

The initiative appears to be a revival of Nissan’s “LEAF to Home” program, which appears to have been abandoned years ago. Although the new program seems to be more focused on providing a service to the grid rather than backup power, which was the focus of “LEAF to Home”.
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Nissan LEAF sales down 60% in the U.S. in November – 1,054 units

Avatar for Fred Lambert Dec 1 2015 - 10:24 am PT
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Today Nissan released its November US sales report, which reaffirmed decreasing LEAF sales, now down 60% over November 2014. The company delivered 1,054 LEAFs in the US in November versus 2,687 during the same period last year and 1,238 last month.

November brings the year-to-date total to 15,922 units, down from 27,098 during the same period in 2014.
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New partnership between Blink, ChargePoint and EVgo lets you access all 3 charging networks with a single account

Avatar for Fred Lambert Nov 19 2015 - 2:45 pm PT
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A major new partnership between Blink, BMW, ChargePoint, Nissan and EVgo was announced today at the LA Auto show. The five partners created the ROEV association with the goal to access all 3 charging networks with a single account.

Between them Blink, ChargePoint and EVgo operate more than 17,500 electric vehicle charging stations or about 91% of all stations in the US.

Full press release below:
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Nissan unveils the IDS concept; its vision of EVs and self-driving going forward [pictures and videos]

Avatar for Fred Lambert Oct 28 2015 - 8:39 am PT
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Nissan unveiled the IDS concept at a preview of the Tokyo Motor Show today. The company described the concept as the embodiment of its vision for electric vehicles and self-driving cars going forward. The concept is fitted with a 60 kWh battery pack, which represent exactly twice the energy of the biggest battery pack option for the Nissan’s flagship LEAF. Although the company didn’t confirm a range for the vehicle, if we consider the size of the battery pack combined with its aerodynamic design and full-carbon-fiber body, the IDS concept could achieve a range of around 200 miles on a single charge.
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Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide a fleet of 200 electric vehicles at 2015 Paris climate conference

Avatar for Fred Lambert Oct 27 2015 - 5:20 am PT
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The Renault-Nissan Alliance announced it will provide a fleet of 200 electric vehicles for the 2015 Paris climate conference (COP21), which runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. The fleet will include the companies’ flagship electric vehicles Renault ZOE, Nissan LEAF and Nissan e-NV200.

The companies said that 200 Renault and Nissan employee volunteers will drive the cars alongside professional drivers.
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Nissan to unveil a second EV concept at the Tokyo Motor Show next week?

Avatar for Fred Lambert Oct 23 2015 - 11:34 am PT
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Nissan sent out a teaser this morning with only a picture (above) and the tagline “the future vision of car intelligence and electrification”. The company added the press release to its “Tokyo Motor Show” stories, which starts next week. If the company is indeed unveiling this electric vehicle at the show, it would make for two new EV concepts for the Japan-based car manufacturer.The company already announced the Teatro concept to be unveiled at the event.

Nissan expands “No Charge to Charge” program to 3 more US cities: Austin, Monterey and Raleigh

Avatar for Fred Lambert Oct 5 2015 - 10:00 am PT
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Nissan expands its “free” charging program for the LEAF  called “No Charge to Charge” to 3 more US cities: Austin, Texas; Monterey, Calif. and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. New LEAF buyers will have access to some chargers in EZ-Charge’s network for 2 years. The first 30 minutes of each DC charging session and 60 minutes of each level 2 charging session will be free.

IF LEAF owners want to hug the charging stalls for longer periods they will have to pay EZ-Charge, but considering the LEAF’s battery pack size, it isn’t likely to be necessary.
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