2014 Nissan Frontier S on 2040-cars

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Carlos Ghosn's lawyer requests bail again after Nissan ex-chairman indicted — again

TOKYO — Japanese prosecutors indicted Carlos Ghosn on Monday on another charge of aggravated breach of trust, a Tokyo court said, the fourth charge against the former Nissan Motor Co Ltd chairman, which his lawyers met immediately with a bail request. The charge came on the day Ghosn's latest detention period was set to expire. Ghosn had been out on bail when authorities arrested him for a fourth time on April 4 on suspicion he enriched himself at a cost of $5 million to the automaker. "We are confident that we have the evidence to successfully prosecute all four cases," an official from the prosecutor's office said at a briefing after the indictment was announced. Ghosn has denied all four of the charges, which include understating his income, and said he is the victim of a boardroom coup. He has accused former colleagues of "backstabbing," describing them as selfish rivals bent on derailing a closer alliance between Nissan and its top shareholder, France's Renault SA. "Carlos Ghosn is innocent of the latest charges brought against him by the Tokyo prosecutors, aided and abetted by certain Nissan conspirators," a Ghosn representative said in a statement. The case has exposed tensions in the Nissan-Renault alliance forged by Ghosn some two decades ago when the French automaker invested in Nissan, then on the brink of bankruptcy — a deal that gave Renault control over its larger partner. Nissan is due to reject a management integration proposal from Renault and will instead call for an equal capital relationship, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday, citing sources. Ghosn's arrest has also focused a harsh light on Japan's judicial system, which critics refer to as "hostage justice" as defendants who deny their charges are often not granted bail. Under Japanese law, prosecutors are able to hold suspects for up to 22 days without charge and interrogate them without their lawyers present. In accordance with these terms, prosecutors had to indict or release Ghosn by Monday. According to the latest indictment, Ghosn caused a total of $5 million in losses to Nissan from July 2017 through July 2018. During that period, prosecutors allege two separate payments of $5 million were made from the account of a Nissan subsidiary into the account of an overseas dealership. A total of $5 million was subsequently transferred from the dealership's account to another account in which Ghosn had an interest.

Nissan NV200 Taxi

"You're a long way from home!"
When I signed up to drive a pre-production version of the Nissan NV200 Taxi, I expected to have a higher-than-normal level of interaction with the public at large. However, while I was hoping for unsuspecting Ann Arborites to perhaps hail me down, or maybe even get a hop-in when stopped at an intersection, I didn't really think I'd be hassled in parking lots so much. And yet, almost as if all of the Dad-Joke energy in the universe was drawn to my tall, yellow ride, seemingly everywhere I parked I heard some iteration of the phrase above.
Har har, guys.

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.