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Nissan Leaf sales drop, new Chevy Volt climbs in November

This is probably just how things are going to be from now on. With the second-gen Chevy Volt available in some states and Nissan dragging its heels on getting a true new version of the Leaf onto dealer lots, it's no surprise that plug-in vehicle shoppers are turning to the Volt in a big way. Yes, we know that a pure EV and a PHEV are not the same and that the Volt and the Leaf are quite different cars, but after all of this time tracking the two plug-in sales champions, we feel obliged to continue our monthly look at who's selling how many of what. Here goes. We'll start with the mediocre news. That'd be the Leaf sales, which came in at just 1,054 units last month. That's the lowest monthly sales total for all of 2015 and, in fact, the lowest month of Leaf sales since February 2013. It's also a 60.8 percent drop from November 2014's sales of 2,687. This despite the fact that you can now get a new Leaf with a longer range of 107 miles (vs. 84) for a higher cost. The new Volt (along with the first-gen Volts that are still being sold out there), on the other hand, was up 49 percent, to 1,980 sales. That gave the Volt its best November ever, "on both a total and retail basis," GM says. The Volt beat the Leaf in October, too, and we suspect this is going to be the story until Nissan figures out how to get people excited about a five-year-old model or introduces the second edition. As always, we'll have a fuller wrap-up of US green car sales in our By The Numbers report soon. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales

Want a V8 on the cheap? Buy a work truck

In case you didn't notice, V8 cars have gotten pretty expensive. If you want a modern muscle car like the Dodge Challenger R/T, Ford Mustang GT, or Chevy Camaro SS, you'll need between $34,000 and $38,000 for a stripped out example of one. The cheapest of those is the Challenger, and the priciest is the Camaro. These are also the cheapest V8 cars the companies offer. But if you absolutely have to have a V8 for less, there is an option, work trucks. As it turns out, all of the Big Three offer their most basic work trucks with V8s. And because they're so basic, they're pretty affordable, especially when sticking with the standard two-wheel drive. A Ram 1500 Tradesman with a V8 can be had for as little as $29,840, which is a little more than $4,000 less than a Challenger R/T. For a bit more at $30,275, you can have a Chevy Silverado W/T, almost $8,000 less than a Camaro SS. The most expensive is the V8 Ford F-150 starts at a starting price of $30,670, which is a bit over $5,000 less than the Mustang. Of course you'll be in an ultra bare bones vehicle with few comforts, and the price will go up if you add stuff, but we're bargain hunting here, and sacrifices are sometimes necessary. Besides, what you lose in comfort, you gain in loads of cargo space and towing (try to look at the bright side). Also, as a side note, all three trucks are available with optional electronic locking rear differentials. At the discounted price of these trucks, you still get a heaping helping of power. The most potent of the trio is the Ram 1500 Tradesman with 395 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque generated by a 5.7-liter V8. Compared with the Challenger R/T, the Ram is up by 20 horsepower and they're tied for torque. The value proposition is even more stark between the two vehicles when looking at the price per horsepower. Each pony in the Ram costs $75.54, while the Challenger charges you $90.91. The Challenger is also more expensive per horsepower than its close competitors. The F-150's 5.0-liter V8 is just barely behind the Ram with 395 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. That's still more power than the Challenger, and it matches the torque of the 2017 Mustang GT. On the down side, it still would be down 20 horsepower on that same 2017 Mustang, and it's behind by 60 horsepower and 20 pound-feet on the new 2018 Mustang GT. The F-150 also just edges out the Mustang in the dollar per horsepower measure.

Recharge Wrap-up: NEDC's NOx problems, autonomous Chevy Volts

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found a significant difference in NOx emissions in Euro 6 diesel cars in NEDC and WLTC testing. While 88 percent of the cars tested met emissions standards for NEDC, NOx emissions averaged five times higher under WLTC, with only 27 percent of vehicles under the limit. WLTC is considered to be a more realistic driving cycle, using hot starts and factoring a higher top speed as well as harder and more frequent accelerations than the NEDC. Read more at Green Car Congress.GM Canada will build a fleet of autonomous 2017 Chevrolet Volts. The self-driving Volts will be deployed for testing at GM's Warren, Michigan Technical Center. Employees will be able to use a carsharing app to reserve a car, which will then drive itself to the set destination. The project will allow GM to collect important data and experience to help the company more quickly develop autonomous driving technology. Read in a press release more from GM Canada, or at Green Car Congress.Carwatt is showing an electric Renault Trafic powered by second-life batteries at the COP21 environmental summit in Paris. The lithium-ion batteries used to power the EV were recycled from other Renault EVs. With the electric Trafic, Carwatt – a company that converts vehicles to use electric power – aims to demonstrate the "circular economy" of batteries, which can provide more value through a longer lifecycle. Read more in the press release below. Carwatt presents a unique automotive application for second-life batteries from electric vehicles. On the sidelines of the COP21 summit, in the Solutions Gallery running from 2 to 9 December 2015 in Le Bourget near Paris, Carwatt and its partners —Renault, Paris City Council, BPI France, the Ales Ecole des Mines Engineering School, and the Bobigny Business Campus — are showing a very special electric Renault Trafic. This prototype vehicle, the only one of kind in the world, is powered by second-life lithium-ion batteries recycled from Renault electric cars. Circular economy at work with electric vehicles When, over time, the batteries of a Renault electric vehicle fall the performance threshold specified for their initial automotive power duty (around 75% of initial capacity), they can still provide valuable service in "second-life" applications before end-of-life disposal at a recycling centre. Experiments are already under way on power storage applications, for example.