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Nissan Leaf sales up again in February, Chevy Volt dips deeper

Nissan managed to buck the industry's overall trend of lower sales in February with double-digit growth throughout its lineup. That includes a 12th month of record sales for the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle, with the year-over-year numbers up more than a skosh. The February ledger for the Chevy Volt looked much worse, falling 25.6 percent from February 2013 down to 1,210 units. With 1,425 Leafs sold, Nissan came away the winner in a head-to-head competition between these the two early plug-in vehicles for the fourth month in a row. Nissan expects the Leaf's sales momentum continue in March. February Leaf sales were up 118.2 percent, making 2014 the car's best February ever. The car was most popular in San Francisco, CA and Atlanta, GA, two places where the the brutal winter cold that struck most of the country had a limited effect. Nissan said that other markets with notable Leaf sales growth were Honolulu, HI, Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX and Denver, CO. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, said in a statement that Nissan, "amped up advertising in the latter half of February, which already has resulted in an uptick in sales and a significant increase in shopping traffic. We expect to see that momentum continue in March." The Volt retains an overall sales lead against the Leaf, but Chevy's calendar year-to-date sales numbers are down 23.1 percent so far in 2014. Overall, Chevy's sales calendar YTD numbers were down just 7.7 percent, so the Volt is performing below average. As always, we will have a more complete report of last month's green car sales up in short order. Green GM Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales

Renault's push for more affordable EVs has global implications

The Renault K-ZE is a small electric car that signals a big change in how the French automaker plans on bringing electric vehicles to the masses. Set to go on sale in China beginning in 2019, the K-ZE is meant to have the design of a sport-utility vehicle, but it's on a supermini-sized frame. While it's set to arrive in Europe by 2021, this petite EV could eventually impact electric sales here in the U.S., too. That's because Nissan, maker of the Leaf EV, is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, a three-pronged automaker with a huge global presence. In China, however, the Renault brand has been absent from the country's booming market for electric vehicles — driven in large part by government mandates to combat air pollution by promoting cleaner, zero-emission cars and trucks in cities. Speaking ahead of the K-ZE's debut this week at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and CEO of Group Renault, stated the company "was a pioneer and is the European leader in electric vehicles." To this, he added the K-ZE is meant to have global reach and bring costs down for the consumer. "We are introducing Renault K-ZE, an affordable, urban, SUV-inspired electric model combining the best of Groupe Renault: our leadership in EV, our expertise in affordable vehicles and in forging strong partnerships," said Ghosn. In China, the K-ZE will be manufactured as part of a joint partnership in cooperation with Renault, Nissan and the Chinese automobile firm Dongfeng Motor Group. The range of the K-ZE is expected to be about 150 miles per charge, or roughly the current range in the 2018 Leaf EV. Except the K-ZE is almost three feet shorter than the Leaf, which means Renault is getting a lot more range from a smaller and lighter amount of batteries. While a car this size would be too small for the U.S. market, the technology beneath this teeny hatchback/SUV is certain to make an appearance here in the years ahead. At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Nissan provided a hint of its future European EV plans, courtesy of the IMx Kuro Concept. This edgy-looking electric crossover is a good indication as to the design direction of Nissan's next range of electric crossovers and SUVs over the next 3-5 years — look for the design and tech to similarly migrate stateside.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.