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Nissan ex-chief Carlos Ghosn cancels hastily arranged Tokyo press conference

TOKYO — Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn on Friday abruptly canceled plans for what would have been his first press conference since his arrest in November, after journalists had been notified about a briefing just two hours earlier. Ghosn's lawyers called to cancel the event that was to be held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ), but did not immediately give a reason for the abrupt change, an official at the FCCJ told Reuters.Automotive News cited a source as saying his family and media team staged a "last-minute intervention" to get him to call off plans to make his case at the press conference, fearing he would be faced with questions he couldn't answer without tipping his legal team's strategy, or that Japanese prosecutors would take a dim view of him publicly criticizing their actions and attempt to revoke his bail. A spokesman for the Ghosn family in Tokyo did not answer his mobile phone and did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. If the conference had not been canceled, Ghosn would have spoken as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosts national leaders at the G20 leaders gathering in Osaka, including U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, who Ghosn's wife Carole have called on to raise the issue of her husband's treatment by Japan's courts. In May a Japanese court dismissed an appeal by Ghosn to ease a bail restriction that bans him from contacting his wife and rejected a subsequent request to allow him a one-off monitored meeting with Carole. His lawyers have argued that that condition violates Japan's constitution and international law on family separations. Ghosn's movements are also monitored and he is only allowed internet access from a computer at his lawyer's office that records the activity for the court. Once among the world's most feted auto executives, Ghosn is awaiting trial in Japan over charges including enriching himself at a cost of $5 million to Nissan, in a scandal which has rocked the industry and exposed tensions in the automaking partnership between Nissan and Renault SA. Since his initial arrest in November last year, Ghosn has been charged four times for crimes which also include underreporting his Nissan salary and temporarily transferring personal financial losses to his employer's books during his time at the helm of Japan's No. 2 automaker.

Recharge Wrap-up: utility sells discounted Powerwall, Nissan-Renault builds 340K EVs

Vermont electric utility Green Mountain Power is selling discounted Tesla Powerwalls to its customers in hopes of balancing the grid. The battery packs would be used not just to help customers store renewable energy for home solar systems or as backup power, but also to occasionally discharge power back to the grid when needed. In addition to this decentralized energy storage being useful to customers, it also benefits the utility by taking demand off energy generating infrastructure during periods of peak demand. The pilot project will put 500 Tesla Powerwalls in customers' homes. Learn more at Green Car Reports, or in the story from Vermont Public Radio. Together, Nissan and Renault have built 340,000 electric cars. The allied Japanese and French automakers hit 100,000 EVs in July 2013, 200,000 in November 2014, and a quarter million in June of 2015. The Nissan Leaf, which first went on sale at the end of 2010, makes up the bulk of the EVs the Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold. Renault delivered its 50,000th Zoe EV in April 2016. Leaf sales have declined in the US in recent months, due at least in part to the anticipation of the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3. Nissan, however, is expected to update the Leaf with a 200-mile driving range in the coming years. Read more at Green Car Reports. Students at the Bearys Institute of Technology (BIT) in Karnataka, India have built what they call the Hybrid Water Car. The car uses a system to electrolyze hydrogen from water and add it to the fuel for more efficient combustion. The system has been placed into a chopped up, lightweighted Maruti Omni. While the benefits of onboard hydrogen electrolyzers have been debated for some time, the BIT students don't plan to stop there, as their next project car will be fueled completely by hydrogen. Read more from Car and Bike. Facebook has hired Rich Heley away from Tesla. The former Tesla VP of Product Technology is making the move to the social media giant's new Building 8 research lab. Heley joined Tesla in November 2013 after working at Apple. Read more at Automotive News.

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault EV movie, H2 fueling in Paris

Renault has debuted a new documentary called Le Peuple Electrique, or The Electric People. The film features two drivers touring France over the course of three weeks in a Renault Zoe electric vehicle. Along the way, the duo meet and come to rely upon other members of the EV driving community. Renault is showcasing the film at the COP21 summit in Paris to give an insight into the culture of electric vehicles. See the film above (it's in French), and read more in the press release from Renault.Nissan and Renault have joined forces for an ad campaign for their electric vehicles. The campaign, which focuses on the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, coincides with the COP21 environmental summit, for which the automakers have supplied 200 electric cars as shuttles for attendees. The ad campaign consists of press, posters, and a series of six videos, each 15 seconds in length, to be shown on social media networks in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Read more from Renault.Air Liquide has announced a hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell taxis in Paris. Electric taxi company STEP plans to launch a fleet of at least 70 Hyundai ix35 (Tucson) Fuel Cell taxis in the next five years. The fueling station will be located at Cours Albert 1er near the Eiffel Tower, so this is truly in the heart of the city. "This first station will allow us to promote the benefits of hydrogen as a clean energy for vehicles with consumers," says Air Liquide's Francois Darchis. "Hydrogen offers a concrete solution to the challenges posed by the issue of sustainable mobility, reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as local pollution in urban areas." Read more from Air Liquide, or at Technologic Vehicles.The world's largest ultra-fast EV charging station is now operational in Beijing, China. Located at the Xiaoying Public Transit Bus Terminal, the station is capable of charging buses to 100 percent in as little as 10 minutes. It features 25 360-kW chargers and five 90-kW chargers, and enough space for 30 buses at a time. The buses come in to charge two or three times a day during their regular operation. Just in time, too. Read more in the press release below. World's Largest Ultra-fast EV Charging Station Goes Live in Beijing, Fully Charging Commercial Vehicles in 10 Minutes This 26,500 m(2) EV charging complex has 25 chargers at 360kW and 5 chargers at 90kW; maintaining a capacity for Ultra-fast charging 30 urban transit buses at the same time STAFFORD, Texas, Dec.