2013 Nissan Altima 3.5 S on 2040-cars

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Nissan moving next-gen Murano production from Japan to Mississippi

Celebrating 10 years of operation at its Canton, Mississippi assembly plant, Nissan has announced that it will be adding a seventh vehicle to the plant's portfolio. Starting in 2014, production of the next-generation Murano will move from Japan to Mississippi alongside its platform mate, the Altima, which is a part of Nissan's plan to build 85 percent of its US products domestically.
In addition to the Altima, the Canton facility also produces the Armada, Xterra, Titan, Frontier and NV vans, and back in June, production of the Nissan Sentra production was moved to Canton creating an extra 1,000 jobs. At this point, there is no indication about how many jobs the Murano line will add, if any.
This is the second announcement this week of production being added in the US as Honda said that the Accord Hybrid production would move to Marysville, Ohio where the standard Accord sedan is currently built.

Is 120 miles just about perfect for EV range?

When it comes to battery-electric vehicles, our friend Brad Berman over at Plug In Cars says 40 miles makes all the difference in the world. That's the approximate difference in single-charge range between the battery-electric version of the Toyota RAV4 and the Nissan Leaf. It's also the difference between the appearance or disappearance of range anxiety. The 50-percent battery increase has zapped any lingering range anxiety, Berman writes. The RAV4 EV possesses a 40-kilowatt-hour pack, compared to the 24-kWh pack in the Leaf. After factoring in differences in size, weight and other issues, that means the compact SUV gets about 120 miles on a single charge in realistic driving conditions, compared to about 80 miles in the Leaf. "The 50 percent increase in battery size from Leaf to RAV has zapped any lingering range anxiety," Berman writes. His observations further feed the notion that drivers need substantial backup juice in order to feel comfortable driving EVs. Late last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), along with the Consumers Union estimated that about 42 percent of US households could drive plug-in vehicles with "little or no change" in their driving habits, and that almost 70 percent of US commuters drive fewer than 60 miles per weekday. That would imply that a substantial swath of the country should be comfortable using a car like the Leaf as their daily driver - with first-quarter Leaf sales jumping 46 percent from a year before, more Americans certainly are. Still, the implication here is that EV sales will continue to be on the margins until an automaker steps up battery capabilities to 120 or so miles while keeping the price in the $30,000 range. Think that's a reasonable goal to shoot for?

Nissan NV200 Mobility Taxi adds a dose of accessibility to the new-look cab

Nissan has been making hay with its NV200 light commercial vehicle in New York. We've known since last year that the van will see service as a taxi in the Big Apple, and more recently, we learned that a variant will be kicking around to rescue ailing Gibson guitars. At its press conference this year, Nissan continued the onslaught with a wheelchair-accessible version of its NV200 Taxi.
The automaker has teamed with BraunAbility - a company that styles itself as the world's largest maker of wheelchair-accessible vans - to create this NV200 Mobility Taxi. The cab features a fold-flat ramp for rearward wheelchair accessibility, as well as a restraint system to keep said chair snugly in place at speed.
In addition to showing off the Mobility Taxi, Nissan announced at its press conference that it will be making both hybrid and fully electric versions of the NV200 Taxi available, as well. Scroll down for the Nissan press release, or take some time with our extensive live and stock image galleries of the NV200 Mobility Taxi.