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The Scoot Quad is Nissan's small step toward EV car sharing

Halfway up Laguna Street, the panic set in. I might not make it up this hill. With my foot depressed all the way to the floor, I sucked in my stomach and started to pray. Yet again, I found myself in an unconventional way to get around on four wheels – but this time, I was on my own, and behind the wheel. Meet the Scoot Quad, aka Nissan New Mobility Concept, aka Renault Twizy. The many aliases reflect the path of descent from its development as a quirky French electric vehicle to its proliferation as a model for car sharing. The Quad resides in San Francisco as part of the Scoot fleet of shared electric vehicles and it's most certainly not for sale. As the line blurs between those who share cars for personal reasons and those who use them for business purposes, Scoot and Nissan came to an agreement in which a small number of New Mobility Concepts would join the Scoot fleet – which currently includes over 300 motorbikes. The added value of Scoot is the capacity for one-way rentals around the city, as well as a dedicated network of charging stations. "We think it's just the best way to get around the city for everyone," said Scoot fleet vice president Mike Waltman, explaining how 10 New Mobility Concepts made their way to San Francisco. Charging time is about four hours on a Level Two charger, made possible through Scoot's network of stations around the city. The one-plus-one Twizy has been in production since 2012 and on sale in certain overseas markets, but it's entirely new for the United States, and it wears the Nissan badge here – kind of. No major changes were made to the Twizy when it became the New Mobility Concept, and similarly none were made in its "transformation" to the Quad. It sports the same insectile shape and the rear profile of a top hat, as well as an identical powertrain: a 13-kilowatt motor that produces 17 horsepower, routed to the rear wheels through a single-speed automatic transmission. Charging time is about four hours on a Level Two charger, made possible through Scoot's network of stations around the city. Its top speed is 50 miles per hour, but Nissan installed a governor at 25 mph to conform to US low-speed vehicle requirements. New Scoot members are required to successfully pass an exam before beginning to use the service, so that was my first order of business. After spending about 35 minutes going through a series of informational videos on the Scoot app, as any new member would do, I was ready to ride Scoot motorcycles.

UAW calls on US State Department to help with Nissan plant

The United Auto Workers is calling for reinforcements in its ongoing battle with Nissan at the manufacturer's Canton, MS factory, where the Altima, Armada, Titan and NV (and eventually, the next Murano) are built. The union has been attempting to organize the employees at the factory for several years, but it's been largely unsuccessful.
Now, Reuters is reporting that the UAW is teaming with the IndustriALL Global Union and requesting intervention by the US State Department, with both groups accusing Nissan of using "threats, intimidation and fear" to keep the 5,600 workers at the facility from organizing. The two unions say this violates the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international organization dedicated to stimulating economic growth.
The UAW and IndustriALL are asking the State Department's National Contact Point to serve as mediator with Nissan, to make sure things play out fairly. Speaking to Reuters, though, there's at least one Michigan-based labor adviser that's skeptical of the move.

Here's how Nissan is quietly getting ready for Leaf 2.0 [UPDATE]

The Nissan Leaf had its best sales month of the year in May, selling 2,104 units. By July that number had come down nearly 50 percent to 1,074 units, and Hybrid Cars reports that Leaf production is on an even steeper decline as the company prepares to roll out the updated 2016 Leaf. In April, Nissan built 2,575 EVs, in May that dropped to 1,569, in June it was just 504. That has pushed the number of Leafs in dealer inventories to a 2015 low of 62 days worth of sales. The trend gave the Chevrolet Volt the upper hand in July sales for the first time in almost two years, even though the Chevy's annual performance is also down for the year. The likely culprits in both cases are customers waiting on the 2016 models to arrive, along with expiring tax credits, a fleet of expired-lease vehicles rolling back onto the market, and declining gas prices. As for the much-rehashed expectations, a Leaf with at least 20 miles more range and perhaps up to 35 miles more range is what customers are anticipating in the fall. Either one of those would be a significant number that justifies not buying right now, and orders for the coming hatchback are being taken in some states. The new Leaf will also get a more conventional style and might also come in a small CUV version. We've asked Nissan for a comment on the declining production numbers, but have not yet heard back. We'll update the post if we get a response. UPDATE: Nissan's Paige Presley told AutoblogGreen, "While I can't comment on future products, I can tell you that we are managing production in line with vehicle demand in the market. With higher sales of Altima and ramping up of Maxima, we have shifted Smyrna's production toward those models. (Additionally, the Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant was on its annual summer shutdown for two weeks in June.) The Nissan LEAF continues to be the global leader in EV sales, and we expect EV sales to continue to rise over time with increasing emission regulations, low operating costs, reduced dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and fulfilling driving experience." Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Nissan Leaf View 12 Photos News Source: Hybrid Cars Green Plants/Manufacturing Nissan Car Buying Hatchback Electric