Nissan sells 100,000 th Leaf Electric Car

Amy Eichenberger of Charlottesville, Va., became the 99,999th global Nissan LEAF customer when she purchased her 100 percent electric vehicle at Colonial Nissan.

Amy, a 47-year-old mother of two, wasn't even in the market for a new car. Then she spotted a University of Virginia colleague's Nissan LEAF and decided she wanted to know more about the "modern-looking, futuristic and progressive" car.

"As an architect, the style first got my attention, and I loved the concept of zero emissions," Amy said. Amy is a project manager overseeing major capital investments for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Nissan LEAF was the first car Amy test drove, and she loved the zip it had. A Mercedes driver for 10 years, Amy describes herself as "picky." Quality, safety, a "glide ride" and reliability were at the top of Amy's auto shopping list criteria.

She said she had a few initial reservations—primarily around range—so she tested out some gasoline and diesel competitors as well. "I'd been told once I drove a Mercedes I'd never drive anything else again. I don't need fancy, but I do appreciate the solid feel and craftsmanship of a luxury vehicle, and I get that in the LEAF," Amy said.

"The general fuel economy out there is unimpressive and many of them felt tin-canny. I didn't even want to look at anything in the 20 MPG range. I considered the VW Jetta TDI, Toyota Prius, Honda CRV and a couple of Subaru wagons, and I always came back to the Nissan LEAF. Everything else seemed stuck in the past," Amy explained.

Amy ultimately chose a LEAF S in Glacier White. Her commute is about 10 miles to the university each day and most of her errand-running is around the city—well under the LEAF's estimated range of 84 miles on a full charge.

"I have friends I like to visit in Richmond, which I can do in the LEAF with some planning, and in DC, which I'll do in my son's or boyfriend's car. LEAF will meet my needs 98 percent of the time, and I didn't want to let a little range anxiety prevent me from missing out on what I consider a much more progressive and forward-thinking vehicle than any of the alternatives."

Chris Crowley, the dedicated EV salesperson for Colonial Nissan, sold Amy her LEAF. He explained that LEAF buyers are not typical walk-ins. "LEAF buyers generally come in well educated about the vehicle, looking for even more information and wanting to see how it feels and drives. We spend a lot of time talking about driving habits to make sure it meets their needs and reviewing how very much it's like any other vehicle in its capabilities with the added benefit of no fuel bill. Folks like to be green, but you can talk to their pocket books as well," Chris said.

Chris has been with Colonial Nissan for two years and has been the lead EV person for most of that time. He's sold nine LEAFs total with three of those coming in the past three weeks. "LEAF sales have picked up because once we were selling to engineers who were fans of the car and knew exactly how it worked. Now we're selling to a much broader audience, and I think we've benefitted from a few folks who resolved to be greener in the new year."

Nissan LEAF launched in the United States in December 2010. The United States accounts for nearly half of the sales worldwide. The pace of LEAF sales has continued to accelerate. In 2013, Nissan sold 22,610 of the electric vehicles in the United States, more than twice as many as in 2012 and more than 2012 and 2011 Leaf sales combined.

Nissan LEAF traditionally has performed well on the West Coast with notable markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle, but now interest has expanded across the country. New hot markets have emerged such as Atlanta, which has been the No. 1 LEAF market for the past five months.

"With LEAF, we see a high level of organic growth and viral sales where LEAF owners become our best evangelists and salespeople. With electric vehicles, many folks presume a 100 percent electric vehicle won't meet their needs until they chat with a neighbor, co-worker or family friend who loves their LEAF and explain its practicality, and then it goes on their consideration list," said Erik Gottfried, Nissan's director of EV Sales and Marketing. "In fact, we're seeing similar results with the geographic dispersion of sales. With sales high in Atlanta, we now see other Georgia markets such as Macon and Columbus picking up significant momentum, similar to Eugene, Ore., following on the success of Portland."

Nissan LEAF is best-selling EV in history with 48 percent market share of the electric vehicle market globally. As of November 2013, Nissan LEAF drivers have completed an estimated 1 billion zero-emission kilometers, resulting in approximately 165 million kilograms of CO2 saved.

Nissan LEAF offers powerful acceleration, quiet operation, energy efficiency and low cost of maintenance. Nissan has extended the standard warranty for the battery-power holding capacity with its own additional warranty for customer satisfaction and assurance.

After leading the era of electrification in passenger vehicles with the LEAF, in 2014 Nissan will become the first to bring a mass-market all-electric light commercial vehicle to market. The e-NV200 will go on sale in Europe and Japan bringing the benefits of quiet, cost-efficient, zero-emissions mobility to businesses.

In June 2014, Nissan will participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the NISSAN ZEOD RC and aims to set a record for the fastest all-electric, zero-emissions lap of the circuit. Nissan is committed to using the EV platform to break new ground in both the commercial-vehicle and motorsports arenas.

Nissan “seriously testing” wheel motor powered 380Z like EV sports car

We reported almost a year ago that Nissan were “really seriously testing” in-wheel electric motors for the new-generation of electric-powered cars. The automaker's global design chief Shiro Nakamura has again confirmed this during an interview with Motor Authority at the recent Detroit Auto Show.

“It's not just at the concept level...We are making serious progress with in-wheel motors; cost is becoming less of an issue, and at a certain point we would like to use in-wheel motors.”

While Nissan's BladeGlider EV concept has in-wheel motors on the rear axle, Nakamura admitted that Bladeglider has some design attributes (like its narrow front track) that might prove insurmountable for a global product—especially with respect to safety—and that any production car would likely have to be wider in front.

He suggests the ESFLOW EV concept, which from behind looks alot like the Bladegliber and at first glance could easily be mistaken for a 380Z, could be a production direction.

The ESFLOW concept presented at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show was said to have a cruising range on one charge of 240 kilometer (150 mile) and was rear-wheel drive powered by two motors that where placed above the axis of the rear wheels, in a mid-ship position.

These motors independently control the left and right wheels, and so the torque is optimized to ensure outstanding vehicle stability and control as well as efficient power regeneration. The motors produce enough torque in an instant for the ESFLOW to reach 100 kph in under 5 seconds.

Bugatti Veyron Hybrid in the works? “Maybe”

Despite rumours of faster, more-powerful and even 4 door version of the Bugatti Veyron, company boss Dr Wolfgang Schreiber has exclusively revealed to Top Gear none of the above will become reality.

With McLaren's P1, Porsche 918 and LaFerrari hypercars all sporting battery powered assistance, what's the brief for the next Veyron? Will the Veyron, like it's rivals utilise hybrid power in pursuit of ultimate speed?

"Maybe," smiles Dr Schreiber. "But it's too early to open the door and show you what we have planned".

We'll take that as a "Yes".

Tesla Model S to launch in Australia by June 2014

Tesla Motors have confirmed the company will return to Australia by June to launch the RHD Model S and its own network of Apple-style stores.

Having wound back its Australian operations following the end of its Roadster the US brand will begin deliveries of the Model S in the second quarter of 2014.

Speaking at the 2014 Detroit motor show, a spokesperson for the automaker said orders had already been taken.

They also confirmed plans are underway to establish a network of Tesla-owned stores in Australia, rather than traditional car dealerships. The Tesla store concept has been developed by the same man behind the Apple Store, George Blankenship.

The stores are usually based in shopping districts rather than traditional automotive areas and are owned by Tesla rather than being franchised to dealers.

The company’s next car, the Model X SUV, won’t arrive in Australia until 2015 at the earliest. Tesla declined to comment on price but it is expected the Model S may be priced around AUD$200,000.

Fully Charged – Electric Land Rover Defender [VIDEO]

The Electric Defender has all the qualities and performance you'd expect, full all-terrain capability, permanent 4WD and a top speed of 70mph.

However, it has been engineered in-house by Land Rover to test out the latest sustainable technologies. The vehicle's Hill Descent Control is linked to a regenerative braking function, and overall up to 80 per cent of the car's kinetic energy can be recovered. Land Rover's acclaimed Terrain Response system has been adapted for electric drive, offering a 50-mile range with a reserve of a further 12.5 miles.

The result is a zero tailpipe emissions vehicle like no other; eight hours of low-speed off-road use is achievable, and it takes 10 hours for the advanced lithium-ion batteries to be fully charged. 'Fast-charge' technology reducing that to just fours is also possible.

Worldwide Sales of Toyota Hybrids Top 6 Million Units

Toyota today announces that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the 6 million unit mark as of December 31, 2013, reaching 6.072 million units. The latest million-unit milestone was achieved in the fastest time yet for Toyota, taking just nine months.

Helping mitigate the environmental effects of vehicles is a priority at Toyota. Based on its belief that environment-friendly vehicles can only truly have a positive impact if they are widely used, Toyota has endeavored to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles.

As of this month, Toyota sells 24 hybrid passenger car models and one plug-in hybrid model in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world. Furthermore, within the next two years, Toyota will launch a total of 15 new hybrid vehicles worldwide, including the new "Harrier Hybrid" in Japan on January 15 and the new "Highlander Hybrid" in the United States in the near future. Toyota will continue augmenting its product lineup even further and increasing the number of countries and regions where it sells hybrid vehicles.

Toyota calculates that as of December 31, 2013, Toyota hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 41 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions—believed to be a cause of global warming—than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance. Toyota also estimates that its hybrid vehicles have saved approximately 15 million kilolitres of gasoline compared to the amount used by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size.

In August 1997 in Japan, Toyota launched the "Coaster Hybrid EV" and launched the "Prius"—the world's first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle—in December. Since then, Toyota hybrid vehicles have received tremendous support from consumers around the world.

Toyota has positioned hybrid technologies that enable the use of different fuel combinations, including the component technologies necessary for development of various environment-friendly cars, as core environmental technologies for the twenty-first century. Toyota therefore plans to continue working to raise performance, reduce costs, and expand its product lineup—including that of non-hybrid environment-friendly vehicles—to create vehicles that are popular with consumers.

Nissan lifts Leaf output as US sales rise

Nissan has lifted U.S. production of its all-electric Leaf by about 50 percent to 3,000 units a month to meet growing demand for the car.

The Leaf logged record sales of 2,500 units in December and was now the best-selling car in some dealerships in Atlanta, where the government is helping promote the technology, outpacing the Altima sedan.

The pickup in sales was driven in large part by Nissan's decision to cut its price by more than $6,000 to $29,650 at the beginning of last year after a shift in production of the model to the United States allowed it to lower manufacturing costs.

While volumes are still at relatively low levels for a production car, sales more than doubled last year to above 22,000 in the U.S. market, momentum is building.

One factor is the increase in charging stations in Atlanta and cities such as Seattle and San Francisco on the West Coast. There are currently 554 quick-charging stations, and more than 15,000 slower "level 2" public charging stations across the U.S., Nissan estimates.

The Leaf's customer base is also evolving. While at first most Leaf buyers were green enthusiasts, increasingly customers focused on the potential cost benefits of owning an electric car are showing up at its dealerships. As a result, it has recently increased prices on some versions of the Leaf. Nissan produces the Leaf at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant.