2008 Nissan 350z Custom Made Forgestar Rims on 2040-cars

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When public charging fails you and your EV

Think that owning and driving a plug-in vehicle in green-centric San Francisco is easy? You should probably think again. That's because a lot of other residents already have the same idea, and there aren't enough charging stations to keep up. A classic First World problem, for sure, but a problem nevertheless for at least one EV driver. A Wired reporter shares the experience test-driving a Nissan Leaf for a couple of days. The catch is that, like many of the city's residents, he's an apartment-dweller without a dedicated parking spot, meaning that he's at the mercy of publicly-accessible station availability. And that infrastructure, he writes, is "woefully inadequate" to handle the current crop of plug-in vehicle drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area The crux is that, while Nissan Leaf's navigation systems can direct a driver to the nearest stations, they neither say if the stations are occupied or if they're open to the public. The former issue is a major one because, unlike gas stations, a plug-in vehicle charging station can be occupied for hours instead of minutes. That means plug-in vehicle drivers without overnight charging access will likely constantly be on the hunt for unoccupied charging stations in the area until more stations are deployed. Read the details of Alex Davies' trying times here. Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos News Source: WiredImage Credit: mayorgavinnewsom/Flickr Green Nissan Electric San Francisco

2024 New York International Auto Show Editors' Top 5 Picks

The New York Auto Show, like many other shows over the past few years, has shrunk. But it's still playing host to some interesting reveals, and we even got a few surprises this year. It was dominated by Nissan and Hyundai Motor Group products, but ones running the gamut from affordable cars to flagship SUVs. It was a strange situation of being both quite diverse in reveals, and not at all, depending on how you looked at it. Our favorites of the show are a clear representation of that. And another interesting observation, only one of the picks was significantly electrified. Scroll down to see the best reveals of the New York Auto Show,. 2025 Nissan Kicks View 10 Photos 5. Nissan Kicks "The Nissan Kicks has gone from a reasonably attractive and small crossover into something way more funky with cool textures, color combinations and some actual presence. Plus, it's more spacious, more powerful and has available all-wheel drive. If Nissan can keep the price nice and low to compete with similarly stylish and well-executed competition like the Chevy Trax, the company's got a real winner on its hands." – News Editor Joel Stocksdale InfinitiQX80-Z63-051 View 39 Photos 4. Infiniti QX80 "The QX80 wasn't technically shown at the New York Auto Show, but it was revealed just a week prior at Hudson Yards – accross the street, in other words. Frankly, I wasn't blown away by the initial photos, but I think it looks great in person. The attention to detail both outside and in seem appropriate for an SUV that Infiniti hopes to sell for six figures loaded up. I'm a believer." – Associate Editor Byron Hurd 2025 Kia K4 Live View 7 Photos 3. Kia K4 Sedan "The Kia K4 interior has way more style than anything in the compact car price range has any business having. Now, if we don't get the green interior option shown in the initial global reveal photos, I'm retracting several of my points here. Otherwise, wowza. I kept looking and looking at that K4 interior photo, and finding new, interesting details to admire. Oh, and the exterior is pretty cool, too, though I do prefer the hatchback in that regard." – Senior Editor, West Coast, James Riswick Genesis GV60 Magma Concept View 10 Photos 2. Genesis GV60 Magma "I am psyched to see Genesis show off a proper performance car. The “Sport” trims on its various models are sort of neat, but the Magma brand looks like the real deal.

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.