2007 Nissan Murano Sl Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Nissan IDx future in a coma, prospects dim

The answer, at least for the public, was always a huge "Yes!" when it came to the Nissan IDx Nismo and IDx Freeflow concepts shown off at the Tokyo Motor Show 2013. We were told they were "in the plan" for production if fans got behind them, but that sunk to "increasingly cloudy" plans for production. Two months later we were being told the production version would get less retro styling. But the damning swerve came in January this year, when Nissan said it was shifting priorities to focus on volume offerings. When The Truth About Cars spoke to the VP of product planning for Nissan North America, Pierre Loing, the smothering blanket of reality was thrown over the IDx duo: Nissan has no small, rear-wheel platform to build them on. At least, not one that it could make any money with. The 370Z is built on an architecture too big for the IDx, and sister company Renault only has small front-wheel-drive platforms. The idea of developing a chassis just for the IDx doesn't make any sense, as sales trends for the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ should show. Will we see anything of the concepts in production guise, then? Loing said Nissan "may have some room" for a product with retro design cues and said to check back "in a few years" to get a final answer. But really, the answer appears to be, "No."

Why it's difficult to accurately test the efficiency of a plug-in car

When it comes to electric vehicles and plug-ins in general, the Environmental Protection Agency-certified range is a hugely important number. While actual range anxiety is largely psychological, the magic number does provide a point of comparison of buyers considering one EV over another. The driving distance is also often touted by automakers when marketing their models. Unfortunately, as Green Car Reports finds in a recent deep dive, the way the EPA calculates the figure is a convoluted mess, and discovering the reasons why is definitely worth the read. The issue isn't about bad science but instead comes down to vague wording. The EPA's accepted range test is sourced from an evaluation called J-1634 from the Society of Automotive Engineers, and it seems to provide balanced results for vehicles that automatically reach a single state of charge when plugged in. However for models with multiple charge settings, the situation gets complicated very quickly. Of course, these modes are often created in the software, meaning that a car's certified driving distance can change with just a few taps of the keyboard without the real world results owners might experience actually changing. By showing the test's effects on the certified range for the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf and Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive over the last few years, Green Car Reports makes a compelling argument that it's the evaluation that needs to change. Thankfully, it appears that the solution is a very simple one. Get the details here.

Nissan says these are the five best European EV drives

If you want to combine the beauty of Europe with the beauty of silent, electric motoring, Nissan has a travel guide for you. The makers of the Leaf and e-NV200 took both vehicles on five road trips in the UK and on The Continent, then worked up a home video of the adventure. All the highlights are in the video above. From shortest to lengthiest, the jaunts are Dundry to Bristol in England, Versailles to Paris in France, Sitges to Barcelona in Spain, Malmo, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Rieti to Rome in Italy. Every one of them is indeed a gorgeous way to spend a day, but in view of the Leaf's 135-kilometer range and the e-NV200's 170-km range you'll want to take your time on those trips to get the most out of them. That UK drive is 5.8 miles, less than 10 kilometers. The French route is 23.3 km, the Spanish route is 36.9 km, the oversea excursion from Denmark to Sweden eats up 44 km, and Italy chews through 87.4 km of range. We'd suggest renting a Tesla Model S and using the widespread Supercharger network to go the distance in Europe, but we understand why Nissan didn't include that option in their own promotional video. Nissan chose four of the locales for deeper purposes, as well: Bristol recently opened 100 EV charging stations, Paris will soon host a UN climate change summit, Nissan builds the e-NV200 in Barcelona, and crossing the 4.9-mile Oresund Bridge meant to test cold-weather hardiness. Rome was because, well, why not? Related Video: