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Recharge Wrap-up: first Chevy Volt hits 200K miles, DriveNow launches in London with BMW i3 on deck

The first Chevrolet Volt has driven over 200,000 miles. According to the owner, Erick Belmer, the car, which he purchased on March 28, 2012, is "holding up flawlessly" with "no noticeable battery capacity loss." Belmer has a commute of about 220 miles per day, rotates his tires every 10,000 miles, and gets an oil change every 38,000 miles. Belmer still loves driving his "dream car" every day, and says it is "wonderfully engineered." Read more at Inside EVs. DriveNow has launched in London, and will include the BMW i3 as part of its carsharing fleet. Daimler shut down its Car2go operations there just six months ago. Currently, DriveNow members have access to the BMW 1 Series and Mini Countryman, but come spring of 2015, DriveNow, which is a joint venture between BMW and Sixt SE, will add 30 all-electric i3 EVs to its London service. DriveNow's rates for London are set at 39 pence per minute, with an hourly maximum cost of GBP20 (about 61 US cents and $31, respectively). The service currently operates in the boroughs of Islington, Haringey and Hackney, with hopes of expanded service in the near future. Read more at Hybrid Cars or at Reuters. FIA's Formula E electric racing championship series received the Autosport award for Pioneering and Innovation. The award ceremony was a black-tie event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag accepted the award. "Many people in motorsport, when we started Formula E, didn't think we would make the first race," says Agag. "To announce we were doing a championship with cars that didn't then exist was a real challenge. But after that first race in Beijing, everything worked." Read more at Formula E's website. The Nissan Leaf has driven over a billion collective kilometers. That's more than 621.3 million miles. Nissan said in August that it expected to reach that mark by January, and it has done just that. To celebrate, Nissan Europe has created a video to thank its 147,000 Leaf drivers to bring the car to that substantial milestone in less than four years. Check out the video below. Featured Gallery 2014 Chevrolet Volt View 11 Photos Related Gallery 2014 BMW i3: First Drive View 33 Photos Related Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf: First Drive View 15 Photos News Source: Inside EVs, Hybrid Cars, Reuters, Formula E, YouTube: Nissan EuropeImage Credit: Chevrolet Green BMW Nissan Transportation Alternatives Electric Racing Vehicles recharge wrapup

Nissan, Fisker in advanced talks on investment, partnership

Nissan is in advanced talks to invest in electric vehicle maker Fisker in a deal that could provide the Japanese automaker with access to an electric pickup truck while giving the struggling startup a financial lifeline, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The deal could close this month, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the talks are ongoing and have not been finalized. Terms being discussed include Nissan investing more than $400 million in Fisker's truck platform and building Fisker's planned Alaska pickup starting in 2026 at one of its U.S. assembly plants, one of the sources said. Nissan would build its own electric pickup on the same platform, the source said. Nissan has U.S. assembly plants in Mississippi and Tennessee. Fisker said on Thursday, when it announced it might not be able to continue as a going concern and would cut 15% of its workforce, that it was in talks with a large automaker for a potential investment and joint development partnership. It did not name the automaker. A Fisker spokesman said the company does not comment on speculation, while Nissan officials were not immediately available to comment. Fisker shares had been down about 45% before the Reuters report but pared those losses and were trading down about 25% with a market capitalization of more than $295 million. The term sheet is ready and the deal is going through due diligence, one of the sources said. Nissan was an EV pioneer with its fully battery powered Leaf hatchback in 2010 but has since struggled in the face of nimbler new entrants. A deal with Fisker would help it move into the growing U.S. electric pickup market. Nissan's talks with Fisker comes in the wake of the former's “rebalanced” relationship with its long-time alliance partner Renault. Last year, Nissan and Renault finalised terms of a restructured alliance after months of negotiations. They aim to have cross-shareholdings of 15% as part of the deal. The more limited alliance removes certain restrictions and has opened the door for Nissan to develop growth plans in areas such as EVs and software independent of Renault, said one of the sources, who is familiar with Nissan's thinking. The Yokohama-headquartered automaker is scouring “many, many opportunities,” the person said.

Nissan Juke facelift spied during testing

The Nissan Juke boldly reinvented the subcompact crossover for the modern age a decade after the niche's progenitors - the first-generation Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V - grew well beyond their original, diminutive sizes. Since being introduced in 2010 as a 2011 model, the Juke has proven to be a huge sales success for Nissan in Europe and quite a success here, too. A modest refresh is planned for the 2015 model year of Nissan's tiniest crossover, and our spy shooters have caught an early glimpse.
The exact changes are not easy to spot, but you can bet that anywhere you see camouflage, a modestly new look is hidden underneath. The biggest change up front is the narrower grille that appears to no longer extend over the headlights. Assuming this isn't just a clever disguise, the change gives the impression that the Juke actually has distinct headlights, instead of massive fog lights. The more angular front air dam also appears to extend slightly lower than before, and the intakes appear to be revised as well.
The changes to the rear are even more minor. You can still see the outlines of the boomerang-shaped headlights, and any alterations to the rear bumper are impossible to spot behind the camouflage tape. It's also unclear at this point whether the interior will receive any refinements or new options.