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Nissan Leaf sells 3,186 in best month ever as Chevy moves 2,511 Volts

The end of summer seems to inspire people to go out and buy a lot of plug-in vehicles. Last year, for example, the Chevy Volt had its best month ever in August, with 3,351 sales. This year, the Nissan Leaf is going up to the winner's podium, setting its own best-ever record with 3,186 units sold. This beats the Leaf's previous record by 69 vehicles. This beats the Leaf's previous record of 3,117 set in May 2014 by 69 vehicles and is up 31.7 percent from August 2013. Nissan is once again quick to remind us that the popular EV's record sales streak has now been extended to 18 months in a row. This record is simply noting that the current month, in this case August, had the highest sales that that month has ever seen in the US. Over all, US Leaf sales are up 34.1 percent so far this year. In a prepared statement, Nissan's director of Leaf sales and infrastructure, Brendan Jones, said that the Leaf is selling well on both coasts, including cities like Raleigh, Boston and Washington, DC. "It's what we call the 'cul-de-sac phenomenon,' where once someone in a community buys a Leaf, then friends, family, co-workers and neighbors see the benefits of this fun-to-drive electric vehicle firsthand and are sold on the idea of going electric," he said. The Volt also had a good month - its best of 2014 by almost 500 sales – but the 2,511 Volt sales still represent a drop of 25.1 percent from the excellent sales the Volt had this time last year. In fact, August 2014 represents the Volt's best sales month since, well, August 2013. Apparently, there's just something about the end of summer. As always, we are working on our in-depth round-up of green car sales across the country and will have that up soon.

Porsche wins the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The question going into this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans was whether or not the Porsche 919 Hybrid would be able to combine its qualifying pace with race reliability. After battling neck-and-neck with Audi's R18 for most of the race, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only did Porsche drivers climb the first two spots on the podium, they did so without any major mishaps on track. This win is the first overall trophy for Porsche since 1998. Audi previously won the last five races, and 13 of the last 15. Corvette also returned to the winner's circle, with the No. 64 C7.R taking winning the GTE Pro division. The victory is the first class win for Corvette since 2011. KCMG won the LMP2 class in ninth overall. With 45 minutes to go the No. 98 Aston Martin crashed out of first place in GTE Amateur, giving the class win to SMP Racing's Ferrari and second place to the Patrick Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 RSR. For the full list of official results, click here. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. For most of the race, the battle at the top went back and forth between the two German manufacturers. An tire puncture in the No. 7 Audi gave up the lead to Porsche, and moments later a crash forced the No. 8 into the garage. But a three-minute replacement of the front and rear bodywork kept the Audi in contention. As the race wore into the night, Porsche maintained a slightly faster pace than Audi. Nick Tandy took the lead on Lap 253 early Sunday morning, and car No. 19 never gave up the top position. The win is the first for all three drivers of the No. 19 – Nico Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber, and Nick Tandy. A lap behind in second was the No. 17 Porsche. The Audis fought reliability problems late in the race but still finished third with the No. 7 R18. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. As the Aston Martin cars dropped away, the lone Corvette Racing entry took over, followed by a charging AF Corse team Ferrari 458 Italia. The Corvette and Ferrari continued to trade places in the final hours until gearbox trouble forced the No. 51 Ferrari out of contention. It was eventually passed by the other AF Corse car, No. 71. Nissan experienced all the pain of a first-year effort with its front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo.

2021 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra fuel economy to go down due to global chip shortage

Production of the 2021 Chevy Silverado and 2021 GMC Sierra is continuing, but the global semiconductor chip shortage is resulting in a mid-year change. Or rather, an omission.  Basically, the availability of cylinder deactivation for the 5.3-liter V8 will be significantly reduced, resulting in a reduction of 1 mpg combined for affected models. This applies whether that engine has the six- or eight-speed automatic, as well as to both the regular Active Fuel Management and the more advanced Dynamic Fuel Management cylinder deactivation systems. DFM does remain with the pairing of 5.3-liter V8 and 10-speed automatic that comes standard on the LT Trail Boss and High Country. "Due to the micro controller shortage, the components that control AFM/DFM in the engine control module (ECM) have been removed," GM spokesperson Michelle Malcho told Autoblog. She also indicated that the engines will still have the AFM/DFM hardware in place, but that GM will not allow activation of the systems in the future with an ECM change.  Malcho also confirmed to Autoblog that the Silverado and Sierra's other engines will continue to have AFM and DFM, including the 2.7-liter turbo inline-four, 4.3-liter V6 and 6.2-liter V8. In an earlier statement to Reuters, she declined to say the volume of vehicles affected. "By taking this measure, we are better able to meet the strong customer and dealer demand for our full-size trucks as the industry continues to rebound and strengthen," Malcho wrote Reuters in an email. The change runs through the 2021 model year, she said. Malcho told Reuters it would not have a major impact on the Detroit automaker's U.S. corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) numbers. "We routinely monitor our fleet for compliance in the U.S. and Canada, and we balance our portfolio in a way that enables us to manage unforeseeable circumstances like this without compromising our overall (greenhouse gas) and fuel economy compliance," she said. GM's fleetwide fuel economy in the 2018 model year was 22.5 miles per gallon and was projected to rise to 22.8 mpg for 2019, according to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency. To meet federal CAFE requirements, automakers like GM often use credits from either earlier years where they faced less stringent rules and performed better than the requirements or buy credits from other automakers. GM said last month the chip shortage could shave up to $2 billion from this year's earnings.