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Ford F-Series Super Duty earns Truck of Texas award

Texans love their pickup trucks, which you already knew. That means the Texas Auto Writers Association and its "Truck of Texas" award is a big deal. And the latest trophy goes to the 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty. The pickup truck managed to snag TAWA's award at the 2016 Texas Truck Rodeo. The award marks the 13th time Ford's F-Series has been named the pickup king of the Lone Star State. Roughly 70 journalists converged outside at the Longhorn River Ranch, just outside of Austin, TX, for the 23rd annual Texas Truck Rodeo where a host of Ford's vehicles won awards. In addition to the F-Series Super Duty being named the "Truck of Texas," the 2017 Ford Super Duty won the Heavy Duty Pickup Truck award, while the 2017 Ford F-150 with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine won the Best Powertrain award. The journalists also awarded Ford for having the "Truck Line of Texas." Ford wasn't the only winner at the Texas Truck Rodeo, as Nissan brought home five awards, including one for the 2017 Titan in the fullsize pickup category and one for the Armada in the SUV segment. Ram also won a few accolades with its trucks. The 2017 Ram 1500 won for being the most luxurious pickup truck, while the 2017 Ram 2500 Power Wagon won the off-road pickup truck award. Last year, TAWA named the 2016 Nissan Titan XD the Truck of Texas, but Ford's all-new F-Series Super Duty managed to keep the Japanese automaker's full-size offering at bay. For the 2017 model, Ford placed aluminum body panels into the F-Series Super Duty's body, which not only shed weight, but also make the truck stronger. Scroll down to see the entire list of TAWA's winners from the 2016 Texas Truck Rodeo. Truck of Texas: 2017 Ford Super Duty SUV of Texas: 2017 Nissan Armada CUV of Texas: 2017 Volvo XC90 Truck line of Texas: Ford Motor Co.

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.

2015 Nissan Leaf gets B mode standard, new MorningSky Blue color

The Nissan Leaf is getting a few updates for the 2015 model year, some functional, some purely aesthetic. The appearance options will be made available later than the rest, and include a new exterior color called MorningSky Blue, as well as standard 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels for the SV trim level. In terms of driving, the 2015 Leaf gets a dedicated B-mode for every trim level, including the base S car (it was formerly only available in the SV and SL levels). This provides more aggressive regenerative braking when the driver is not on the accelerator - perfect for making the most of those downhill grades. Now every Nissan Leaf includes Normal, Eco-Mode and B-Mode, regardless of trim level. SV and SL trim levels also get a couple new convenience features. For those who find it impossible to disconnect while driving, the Hands-Free Text Messaging Assistant allows them to communicate without taking their eyes off the road, taking their hands off the wheel or risking a distracted driving ticket (perhaps you might want to rethink using it, though). Additionally, SV and SL customers will Voice Destination Entry to make spontaneous rerouting to the theme park a little easier. Of course, a lot of other Nissan cars got some cool upgrades this year. The Quest, NV200 Compact Cargo and V6-powered Altima, for instance, eke out another mile per gallon highway and combined. See what's new in the Leaf and the rest of the Nissan lineup in the press release below. The 2015 Nissan Lineup: Charting the Changes Nissan's U.S. sales have significantly outperformed the industry in 2014, up 12.7 percent CYTD through June. Sales have been led by the recently redesigned Altima, Rogue and Sentra – along with other models such as LEAF (+29.4%), JUKE (+44.9%), Frontier (+22.6%) and NV200 (+439.3%), which have shown strong results month after month. This gives the Nissan lineup great momentum heading into the 2015 model year. Headlining the changes for 2015 is the upcoming launch of the all-new Nissan Murano (due in late 2014). As the halo vehicle for Nissan's expanding range of bold crossovers and SUVs, the dramatic 2015 Murano features a new V-motion front end, LED boomerang lights and a unique "floating" roof. Murano's breakthrough exterior design carries into the interior, which offers an engaging social lounge feel through features such as advanced NASA-inspired Zero Gravity front and outboard rear seating and oversized Power Panoramic Moonroof.