2003 Nissan Murano on 2040-cars

Auto blog

In his own words: Carlos Ghosn on why EVs rule

That's a nice little dig at hydrogen fuel cell technology, Mr. Ghosn. The Nissan chief, long a champion and heavy-duty investor of electric-vehicle technology, wrote an essay on his LinkedIn Influencer page on why EVs are the theoretical wave of the future. It's obviously not an unbiased opinion, but he makes his points clearly. Ghosn points out that "refueling" costs per mile for EVs are about 70 percent less than gasoline and more than 60 percent less than hybrids. He cites the rapidly growing network of plug-in vehicle charging stations that are eliminating "range anxiety" with at least some folks, and notes that the fastest growing US plug-in vehicle market is, of all places, Atlanta. Additionally, Ghosn, near the bottom of the post, says that a plug-in vehicle charging station can be deployed for as little as $2,000, while building a hydrogen station costs about $2.5 million. Pretty clever. Nissan's sales numbers appear to give Ghosn's confidence some clout. Through November, sales of the Leaf in the US surged 35 percent from a year earlier to more than 27,000 units. Globally, Nissan says the Leaf's sales are up 20 percent this year. Check out Ghosn's own words below. Zero-Emission Cars: Both Consumers and the Environment Win Last month, the Renault-Nissan Alliance sold its 200,000th zero-emission car. The Nissan LEAF, which we launched four years ago, is by far the top-selling electric vehicle worldwide. Sales are up 20 percent this year. Together with the Renault ZOE and other zero-emission vehicles in our lineup, Renault-Nissan's EVs have been driven about 4 billion kilometers – enough to circle the earth 100,000 times. They are the world's first and most successful mainstream, mass-marketed EVs. Why are more people switching to EVs? The reasons are clear: EVs are convenient: They can be refueled at home or at the office from multiple energy sources, including the increasing amount of clean energy from solar or wind power. Imagine never stopping at a gasoline service station because you wake up to a "full tank" every day. This is one of the top things EV owners enjoy about their cars. EVs are economical: Even with gasoline prices falling, Consumer Reports recently estimated operating costs of a Nissan LEAF in the United States at 3.5 cents a mile, compared with 11.9 cents for a subcompact gasoline car or 8.6 cents for a hybrid. EV owners typically save on their insurance policies, because insurers view EV drivers as a lower risk.

Nissan Xterra exits stage left [UPDATE]

Update: The original story said the 2016 Rogue switches to a camera-based blind spot warning system, rather than radar-based. The opposite is true, and the text is changed to reflect this. Nissan is announcing most its 2016 model-year changes, and you can say farewell to the Xterra after 15 years in the lineup. As previously rumored, the SUV is shuffling off without a replacement to join the similar recent fates of the Nissan Pathfinder hybrid and Volkswagen Touareg hybrid. The decision is easy to understand. The Japanese automaker's volume is up 4.6 percent through July in the US to 792,642 vehicles, but the Xterra moved just 8,114 examples in that time, down 25.1 percent from the same period in 2014. While the Xterra is leaving, Nissan has a lot in store for the 2016 model year. New additions to the lineup include the latest generations of the Maxima and Titan. Plus, the Altima and Sentra are being refreshed with reports suggesting both of them take design inspiration from the latest Murano. Nissan is also keeping the Rogue fresh, even though it was just redesigned for 2014. The SL Premium package gets forward emergency braking. Siri Eyes Free is added to the SV Premium package and SL, and body-colored mirrors with integrated turn signals come on the S appearance package. Finally, the blind spot warning system is now radar-based, rather than using a camera. You can read the full list of changes for each model in the press release below, but some of the highlights include: 370Z Coupe and 370Z Nismo are available with a Bose stereo with active noise cancellation and active sound enhancement. The Frontier gets a moonroof on the Crew Cab SV GT-R wears 20-spoke Rays wheels rather than the previous 10-spoke design Juke has standard Siri Eyes Free NV Cargo has added side-impact airbags NV Passenger gets a standard 5.8-inch infotainments system on the SL trim Pathfinder has an optional cold package on the SV with heated front seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors Versa Note SV now gets convenience package standard, which includes a 5.0-inch infotainment system, RearView Monitor, and Divide-N-Hide rear floor. The 2016 Nissan lineup: Charting the changes Nissan is a brand on the move. And on a roll. The past two years have seen the back-to-back introductions of the segment-busting 2014 Rogue and 2015 Murano, which helped drive Nissan to record 2014 calendar year sales of 1,269,565 (+12.2%) in the United States.

Weekly Recap: The cost of Tesla's ambitious plans for growth

Tesla has ambitious plans for growth, and they won't come cheap. The electric-car maker said this week it plans to spend $1.5 billion in 2015 to expand production capacity, launch the Model X crossover and continue work on its Gigafactory, which is being built outside of Reno, NV. The company is also investing in its stores, service centers and charging network, which is expected to grow by more than 50 percent this year. Plus, it's still working on the Model 3, which is scheduled to arrive in 2017. "We're going to spend staggering amounts of money on [capital expenditures]," Tesla chairman and CEO Elon Musk said on an investor call. He then added: "For a good reason. And with a great ROI [return on investment]." They're bold plans, and Musk is clearly willing to put Tesla's money where his mouth is. That's why the company is projecting a whopping 70-percent increase in deliveries this year, for a total of 55,000 cars. A large chunk of that growth will come from the addition of the Model X crossover to Tesla's portfolio, and the company already has nearly 20,000 reservations for it. More than 30 Model X prototypes have been built, and it is expected to begin shipping to customers this summer. Musk said he's "highly confident" the vehicle, which has experienced delays, will arrive on time. The company also had more than 10,000 orders for the Model S at the start of the year. The big spending plans caused a stir, even though Tesla spent $369 million on capital expenditures in the fourth quarter alone. In a note to investors, Morgan Stanley analysts called the costs required to keep pace with Tesla's demand "eye-wateringly high," and said the $1.5-billion figure was nearly double their expectations. Still, Musk is not thinking small and suggested that his company could be as big in 10 years as Apple is now if Tesla's growth continues. His optimism comes as the company actually reported a $294-million net loss in 2014, more than its $74-million loss in 2013. The money, however, continues to roll in, and total revenues increased to $3.2 billion in 2014, up from $2 billion in 2013 and a dramatic surge from $413 million in 2012. More of the same is expected this year, and the company could reach $6 billion in revenue. As Morgan Stanley noted, it "seems Tesla is preparing to be a much larger company than we have forecasted." It's certainly spending that way.