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Ten of the greatest Super Bowl car commercials of all time

With an average of over 100 million viewers each year, the Super Bowl always has advertisers bringing out the big guns. And for those among us who don't know the difference between a safety and a touchback, those commercials can be one of the most compelling aspects of the annual ritual. Car companies, in particular, have a long history of making the most of the huge Super Bowl audience by debuting some of the most memorable advertisements that have ever aired on television. So, in preparation for the new batch we'll be seeing this coming Sunday, here's a collection of our favorites from the past. 10. Audi – The Godfather When Audi created this homage to the quintessential gangster movie to promote its newest sports car, the company managed to make a commercial that was simultaneously funny, a little bit disturbing, and most importantly memorable. 9. Maserati – Strike This one might start out slow, but it delivers not only with the wicked sound of the third-generation Ghibli's engine, but with an interesting message about hubris in the auto industry as well. 8. Nissan 300ZX Twin-Turbo – Dream Directed by none other than Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien), this dystopian spot has centers around a narrator who explains that in his dream the bad guys are unable to catch him despite their best efforts by way of street bikes, race cars, and supersonic jets. While the twin-turbocharged 300ZX car was certainly a performance powerhouse to be reckoned with in its day, the concept and execution of this one does come off a little bit campy now – but in a good way. Then again, it is a dream, after all. 7. General Motors – Robot This one is unique in that it's genuinely depressing on a profound level. Who would've thought that the simulated suicide of a lovable, anthropomorphic car-building robot who has fallen on hard times could be such a downer? 6. Nissan – With Dad Although the debut season of its new LMP1 racer didn't exactly turn out how the team hoped it would, there's no denying that Nissan's depiction of a strained father-and-son relationship that eventually leads to redemption (and the introduction of the 2016 Maxima) tugs at the heartstrings. 5. Volkswagen – Big Day A surprisingly poignant advert, this one might be low on dialogue but it certainly gets its message across. And just as the dramatic soundtrack begins to lull the viewer into a sense of security, our expectations are upended. 4.

New allegations against Ghosn concern payments to Saudi businessman

BEIJING – Fresh misconduct allegations brought by Tokyo prosecutors against ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn center on the use of company funds to pay a Saudi businessman who is believed to have helped him out of financial difficulties, two company sources with knowledge of the matter said. Prosecutors arrested Ghosn for a third time on Friday, accusing him of aggravated breach of trust in transferring personal investment losses to the automaker. The prosecutors' statement said they believe that around October 2008, Ghosn was trying to deal with losses on paper of 1.85 billion yen ($16.6 million) incurred on a swap contract he had with a bank which it did not name. A person helped arrange a letter of credit for Ghosn and a company run by the person later received $14.7 million in Nissan funds in four installments between 2009 and 2012, the statement said, adding that the payments were made in Ghosn's and the person's interests. "By doing so, (Ghosn) behaved in a way that breached trust, and inflicted damage on the property of Nissan," the statement said. The statement also said Ghosn had earlier sought to have Nissan shoulder the appraisal losses directly. According to the Nissan sources who have knowledge of the company's probe into its former chief, the person who helped Ghosn is Khaled Al-Juffali, vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia's largest conglomerates, E. A. Juffali and Brothers, and a member of the board at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. He is also majority owner of a company called Al-Dahana which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf with the other half held by a wholly owned unit of Nissan Motor. Sheikh Khaled Juffali has no comment on this subject, according to an emailed statement from E. A. Juffali and Brothers. Ghosn's Tokyo-based lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, was unavailable for comment on this article, according to a person who answered the phone at his law office. A representative for the Ghosn family declined to comment. Other media have said Ghosn has through a lawyer denied that he shifted losses to Nissan and has told investigators that the four payments were for legitimate business purposes, including a reward for handling problems at Nissan dealers in Saudi Arabia. Tokyo prosecutors declined to comment. Asked about Ghosn's reported comments, a Nissan spokesman said: "We cannot comment on matters related to Ghosn's arrest for breach of trust.

EZ-Charge program will get rolled out for all vehicles [UPDATE]

UPDATE: It appears that Chargepoint has pulled out of the program. It looks like a myriad of vehicles will be eligible for the single-card recharging program under NRG Energy's NRG eVgo division. The EZ-Charge platform that Nissan said last month would allow Leaf owners to use multiple vehicle recharging networks with a single card will soon be offered to other plug-in vehicles. eVgo will start sending out EZ-Charge cards this summer to various markets in Northern and Southern California and Texas as well as the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix, Nashville and Washington, DC. EZ-Charge uses a single card that is good for eVgo stations as well as stations within the ChargePoint, Blink and AeroVironment networks. It will debut in 10 EZ-Charge markets on July 1. By mid-2015, 15 more markets will be added. Nissan announced the 'No Charge to Charge' program last month at the New York Auto Show. Nissan said at the time that Leaf buyers would get two years of free charging, but individual charging sessions were limited to 30 minutes at CHAdeMO stations and an hour at the more-common Level 2 stations. The automaker also estimated that the 25 markets included by next year account for more than 80 percent of US Leaf sales. Take a look at NRG's press release below. NRG eVgo Introduces New Convenience to Electric Vehicle Charging First-of-Its-Kind EZ-Charge All-Access Card gives EV drivers convenience to use chargers from multiple charging providers PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This summer, NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG), will roll out the EZ-Charge (SM) platform, a first-of-its-kind initiative that will offer electric vehicle (EV) drivers the ability to access multiple EV charging networks with a single all-access card. "For too long, EV drivers have been limited to only the chargers that were in their network meaning they might drive past a number of charging stations in other company's networks before they could get to one they could use with their current provider" The EZ-Charge platform will enable drivers of any electric car make or model to carry a single access card for charging on multiple networks, much like consumers today carry a single credit card to access multiple retailers.