2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 S Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

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The Carlos and Dieter Show promises more collaboration

Daimler and Renault-Nissan said Friday the automakers have expanded their four-year-old alliance to include putting a Renault diesel in the Mercedes C-Class, a Mercedes gasoline engine in an Infiniti and possibly will involve automated driving technologies in the near future. At a joint Paris Motor Show press conference dubbed 'The Carlos and Dieter Show' by European media, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Ghosn and Zetsche said the alliance between the automakers is running strong and will expand into any area that makes financial sense for both companies.
Daimler and Renault-Nissan began their partnership in 2010 with plans to collaborate on three projects. They've since expanded that and are working on 12 projects together, including building a joint plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Renault-Nissan and Daimler are launching their first vehicles developed together from scratch: the Renault Twingo (which went on sale in September) and the new Smart Fortwo and Smart Forfour, which go on sale in November.

Why China will soon lead the electric vehicle market

China could be the world's largest electric vehicle market by 2020, thanks to significant government subsidies and the major drawbacks of owning an internal combustion model there. The country's populace registered 75,000 EVs in 2014, and sales figures in 2015 looked even better. In a new video, Renault-Nissan examines the trend and why it happened. Chinese cities heavily encourage buyers to go green through vehicle incentives, but they also make it a hassle to be a polluter. In some places, there's a lottery to limit vehicle registrations and alternating driving bans for even or odd license plate numbers. However, these limits don't apply to EVs, and the country's automakers have benefited from the regulations by introducing small, inexpensive electric models, albeit with sometimes hilarious styling. China's emissions regulations will get even tighter in the coming years. In fact, a Honda exec recently predicted the company wouldn't be able to sell any models there without some form of electric assistance by 2025. Get a better look at the country's electric push to clean up vehicle pollution in Renault-Nissan's video. Related Video:

Nissan shows off Le Mans Prototype, says it's world's fastest electric racer [w/video]

Nissan has announced plans and details around its upcoming all-electric racing car, the ZEOD RC. The Zero Emission On Demand Racing car is said to be capable of a top speed in excess of 300 kilometers per hour (186.4 miles per hour), is shaped a bit like the closed-cockpit version of the DeltaWing (albeit, to our eyes, better looking) and will make its debut in 2014 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This weekend, visitors to the race will have the opportunity to view the prototype near the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Nissan's ZEOD RC has been invited by Le Mans organizers to compete as the Garage 56 entry in next year's race; that's essentially a spot on the grid held for vehicles with new and/or cutting edge technology.
Short of announcing a partnership with Michelin to develop tires for the EV racecar, however, Nissan is mum on any kind of battery or motor specification for the ZEOD. The press release (below) offers a sense that the Nissan and Nismo teams have still got a lot of work to do before the 2014 race. Ben Bowlby, designer of the ZEOD RC, says "We have many options to consider and test. The test program is part of a longer term goal of developing a system and a set of rules for this type of technology in partnership with the ACO that would be best suited to competing at the highest level of this sport."