2000 Nissan Frontier Xe Crew Cab Pickup 4-door 3.3l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Renault-Nissan alliance reboot will kick off with five projects

Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are moving ahead with a plan to recalibrate a two-decades-old alliance that had weakened over time, starting with a range of industrial projects alongside an agreement to rebalance capital ties, according to people familiar with the situation. Top executives from the alliance partners held an operating board meeting on Thursday, giving a nod to bringing Nissan and Renault’s cross shareholdings to an equal level, as well as common projects as part of the reshaped cooperation, the people said. The partners also agreed on an alliance event to be held on Feb. 6 in London to present details of the plans, the people added, declining to be named discussing details before they are public. Under the landmark plan, Renault is expected to cut its 43% stake in Nissan to 15% via an orderly disposal of shares over time to eliminate lopsided capital ties that have been a source of friction for years. The tentative agreement comes after years of tension that at one point spilled over into Japanese-French politics when Renault-NissanÂ’s then-leader Carlos Ghosn weighed to merge the two companies.   The partners also agreed to continue collaborating on various industrial projects, a condition that was crucial for Renault to obtain approval for the rebalancing from its most powerful shareholder, the French government. Media representatives for Renault and Nissan declined to comment. The boards of directors of the respective companies will have to approve the agreement in meetings to be held in coming days, the people said.  Code name: ‘ReloadedÂ’ The redesigned alliance will allow Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo to move on with a complex split of Renault into five separate businesses, including carved-out electric-vehicle business Ampere and to deepen ties with a series of other partners, including ChinaÂ’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. and Qualcomm Inc., the people said. “The interest for each of the partners is now to be able to move forward without, for example, RenaultÂ’s management getting distracted in endless trans-national politics,” says Stifel analyst Pierre-Yves Quemener. Failure of the talks would have been “a negative,” Quemener said.  Renault, Nissan and junior partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will embark on roughly five projects initially, codenamed “Reloaded,” with others to follow, the people said.

Nissan working on something radical for Le Mans

With Porsche joining Audi and Toyota at the front of the LMP1 grid at Le Mans next year, Nissan is the next to be throwing its hat (and considerable R&D budget) into the proverbial ring. But only if it's allowed to do something radically different, according to the latest report in Car magazine.
Just what that means remains to be seen, but Nissan is reportedly in active discussions with the ACO (the body that governs the race) to see how far it can stretch the regulations. The ACO has taken an intriguingly different approach to equalizing performance, mandating the maximum amount of energy that can be used per lap instead of telling teams what kind of engines they can use. That's how Porsche is entering with a four-cylinder engine, Toyota with a V8 and Audi with a diesel six. But when it comes to the shape of the car itself, the rules are considerably more restrictive.
Unfortunately the rules would prohibit Nissan fielding the ZEOD RC (with its narrow front track) in the LMP1 class, relegating it instead to the Garage 56 slot for experimental racers (which the DeltaWing filled before). And the realities of endurance racing would effectively prohibit anyone from fielding an all-electric racer. Within those confines, though, Nissan is eager to find enough wiggle room to make something both visually and technically different from other LMPs. And if the ACO won't let it do so at Le Mans, it could turn to another race or series (like the Nürburgring 24) that would.

Nissan Leaf battery cells put through torture test, live to charge again

One minor chink in the armor of the Tesla Model S is that a small number have caught fire, once their battery packs were penetrated. Nissan Leaf drivers, however, might just be able to weather such an event without an ensuing CarBQ. Our evidence for such a claim? A video that has surfaced of cells from a Leaf pack undergoing a battery of torture tests (pun somewhat-ashamedly intended). Shared by folks at the Hybrid Auto Center in Las Vegas – who offer for sale, among other things, used Leaf lithium battery modules – the footage shows salvaged cells being brutally assaulted with a screwdriver, and later, a propane torch. Granted, these tests are not the same thing as flinging a piece of metal into a working pack at 70 miles per hour, but they do claim to show that a puncture does not always equal a fire. Oh, and don't try this at home. When pierced through by the flat head tool, there is no explosion or eruption of flame. Instead, a rather modest wisp of smoke shyly emerges as the electrolyte next to the shorted area of the fully-charged foil pouch reacts with the influx of oxygen. Again and again, the blade descends, until the cell is riddled with holes. No fire. Amazingly, when connected with a voltmeter afterward there are still plenty of signs of life, and when it is charged and discharged (off-camera), it reportedly suffers only a slight loss of charge capacity. The video goes on to show another cell attacked with open flame with similar results. While the demonstration is, perhaps, somewhat crude, the message it sends is loud and clear: lithium batteries can be safe and rather robust, despite some freak accidents. Scroll below to watch the short presentation for yourself. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.