2011 Nissan Leaf Sl Ca Carpool Stickers on 2040-cars

Auto blog

World's cheapest Nissan Leaf costs just $9,460

If you thought electric vehicles were expensive, head on over to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. There, you can buy a Nissan Leaf for the amazingly low price of just 7,450 euros ($9,460 US). Or, if a practical delivery van is more your style, check out the Nissan e-NV200 Visia Flex, which is absurdly priced at 4,950 euros ($6,400). Now, you might be thinking, those prices don't seem right, and this isn't a case of Nissan slashing the price like someone in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Instead, these deals are already and unsurprisingly being called the "world's best EV incentives." The great deals - available to businesses only – are due to generous national and local government incentives that are designed to take dirty vehicles off the road. Things like scrappage incentives (worth 2,500 euros, or $3,240) and free parking for EVs as well as home charger incentives stack up until they bring the price of a new EV down to the levels listed above. Jordi Vila, the managing director for Nissan Netherlands, told Automotive World that, "By scrapping older vehicles and incentivising buyers to replace them with zero-emission electric vehicles, Rotterdam is taking a huge step in improving air quality." As great as these deals are, it turns out that most car buyers are unaware of EV incentives. This is too bad, since there is a short but interesting history of tremendous deals on plug-in vehicles, like the $10,000 discount on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (or the $69/month lease on that thing). For pure "dollars off" value, though, nothing beats the $30,000 in total incentives that maybe be available in some Japanese prefectures for hydrogen vehicles, which might expand all the way to free H2 cars.

Recharge Wrap-up: BYD building e6 for Taiwan, Formula E announces season two test dates

The West Coast Electric Highway in Oregon and Washington offers EV drivers a lot of freedom to travel. With fast chargers available along I-5 and many other highways, drivers can travel through large parts of the Northwest without worrying about being stranded. Most chargers are 20 to 30 miles apart throughout the network - which is helpful considering the extra energy needed to climb the many hills - but things get a little more difficult at the border with California. From Ashland, Oregon southward, there isn't another fast charger for about 200 miles. Read more at Green Car Reports. The BYD e6 will be built in Taiwan for the Taiwanese market. AJ Greentech Holdings will manufacture the electric crossover taxi, which can travel 186 miles on a single charge. "This contract will ensure that our initiative for revolutionizing green energy transportation is carried out," says AJ Greentech Holdings CEO Chu Li An. "By driving this e6 electric taxi, drivers will save 10,000 Taiwan dollars a year on transportation costs, an unparalleled deal, while at the same time, providing a safer environment for all the citizens of Taiwan." Read more at Hybrid Cars. Nissan and Ricker Oil are partnering to bring EV fast charging to Ricker's Convenience Stores in Indianapolis. Nissan Leaf customers who purchase beginning April 1 will be able to charge for free at the nine locations as part of the automaker's "No Charge to Charge" program. "In Indianapolis, we are taking bold steps to reduce our city's oil dependence," says Mayor Greg Ballard. "Growing our citywide network of EV charging stations is important as we transition the city's entire fleet off foreign oil and work with residents to increase their access to electric vehicles." Read more at Convenience Store News. Formula E has announced its preseason test dates for its second season. Testing will take place in August at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, where Formula E has its headquarters. Teams will be testing cars with powertrains from eight new manufacturers for the second season. The public is welcome to come watch on the last day of testing, August 25. See the full testing schedule and read more from Formula E.

Recharge Wrap-up: Video shows Tesla robots at work, Ghosn disappointed by China's EV market

A video from The Wall Street Journal shows Tesla's new assembly robots at work. The hulking bots are each named after X-Men superhero characters to give them a sense of familiarity and make them less intimidating to the humans working alongside them. Their monikers also reflect their superhuman levels of strength. The naming of the robots appears to have had the intended effect, as human employees refer to the automated machines as colleagues, and are happy to have the help moving the heavy cars around the factory floor. The robots were added as part of an upgrade and expansion to Tesla's factory in Fremont, CA last year. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says that China should offer more incentives to improve disappointing EV sales. Nissan sells its Leaf EV in China as the e30 under its Venucia brand. The company didn't disclose sales figures, but Ghosn is disappointed that EVs aren't "taking off" in China like they are in other markets. Until the market improves for the e30, Ghosn says Nissan probably won't introduce other EVs to China. "The main challenge today is really to encourage, put more incentives, in order for the consumer to buy in," says Ghosn. "Before adding more cars and bringing more technology, we just need to make sure we can sell the technology we already put into the ground." Read more at Automotive News. Total in France will convert its La Mede petroleum refinery to produce biodiesel. Total will stop producing petroleum at the refinery by the end of 2016, then spend $216 million to convert it into the country's first biorefinery. Improved fuel economy and energy efficiency have helped reduce demand for petroleum products in Europe by 15 percent since 2008. Total's response to "the crisis in the European refining industry" is "to innovate and adapt to meet shifting demand trends," according to Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne. "The central focus of Total's plan for our French refining business is to realign our operations and products to changing markets." Read more at Domestic Fuel, or in the press release below. Total's French Refining Roadmap: Upgrade Donges and Transform La Mede April 16, 2015 Paris – Total today presented its French refining roadmap to employee representatives. The plan is designed to give each Total's refining site in France the means to resist in a volatile environment and perform profitably.