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Zombie cars: 9 discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

Recharge Wrap-up: Gogoro Smartscooter debuts, Nissan Leaf drivers drive more

The West Coast Electric Highway in Oregon and Washington makes up about nine percent of the country's EV charging stations. Located along I-5, Highway 101 and other highways, Oregon offers 43 DC quick chargers, while Washington has 14. Chargers are located every 20 to 25 miles along the network, with plans to extend the Electric Highway from Canada all the way to Mexico. Between March 2012 and April 2014, drivers used public chargers 17,917 times in Washington and 18,522 times in Oregon, according to the US Energy Information Agency. Read more at Green Car Reports and at The Register-Guard. Nissan says Leaf drivers in Europe clock about 40 percent more miles on average than gasoline and diesel cars. Using the Leaf's CarWings telemetry, Nissan has found that Leaf drivers average 198 miles per week, or about 10,307 miles per year. Drivers using traditional fossil fuels only drive an average of 138 miles per week, or 7,170 miles a year. Nissan has sold more than 31,000 units of the Leaf in Europe, with more than 150,000 sold worldwide. "Our customers frequently tell us that they buy the Nissan Leaf as a second car, but end up using it far more than their other vehicle," says Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Nissan's European EV director, "and the information we receive from CarWings reinforces that message." Read more in the press release below. Gogoro's electric Smartscooter, which uses a battery swap system, debuted at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Smartscooter features a racing suspension, a connected mobile app, a suite of sensors and a host of customization options. What makes the Smartscooter really interesting, though, is its battery swapping network. The 20-pound batteries are traded at small stations - essentially vending machines - in a matter of seconds, so worries about charging times are nonexistent. The battery stations could also be used by utilities for energy storage to help balance grid loads when they're not being used to power electric travel. See the Smartscooter in the video below and read more at Wired. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Carlos Ghosn's son predicts surprises at ex-Nissan chief's day in court

PARIS — The son of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn said in an interview published Sunday that people will be surprised when his father, detained since Nov. 19 for allegedly falsifying financial reports, recounts his version of events to a Tokyo court on Tuesday. Anthony Ghosn, 24, told France's Journal du Dimanche that his father — who will remain detained until at least Jan. 11 — will get 10 minutes to talk at the hearing, being held at his own request. "For the first time, he can talk about his version of the allegations against him," Anthony Ghosn said in the interview with the weekly paper Journal du Dimanche. "I think everyone will be rather surprised hearing his version of the story. Until now, we've only heard the accusers." The son has no direct contact with his father, and gets information via lawyers. He said his father, who for decades was a revered figure in the global auto industry, has lost about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) eating three bowls of rice daily, but he reads books and "he resists." Ghosn refuses to cave in, said his son, contending that he would be freed from detention if he admitted guilt to the prosecutor. "But for seven weeks, his decision has been quite clear ... He won't give in," Anthony Ghosn said, adding that he would be wearing prison clothes and handcuffs in court. Countering media portrayals, he insisted his father, a Brazilian-born Frenchman of Lebanese ancestry, is "not obsessed by money." "He always told us that money is but a means to help those you love, but not an end unto itself." Ghosn is charged with underreporting his pay by about 5 billion yen ($44 million) in 2011-2015, and faces a breach of trust allegation. He led Nissan Motor Co. for two decades and helped save the Japanese automaker from near bankruptcy. He remains head of France's Renault car company, which owns 43 percent of Nissan. Another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Ghosn on the underreporting of income and was freed Dec. 25 on 70 million yen ($635,600) bail after more than a month in detention.Related Video: