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Japan issues arrest warrants for Ghosn, Americans suspected of helping him escape

This security camera image shows men identified as Michael Taylor and George Zayek during their checkpoint processing at the Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. They are suspected of smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of Japan to Lebanon via Istanbul.   TOKYO — Tokyo prosecutors issued an arrest warrant Thursday for Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who skipped bail while awaiting trial in Japan and is now in Lebanon. Japan has no extradition treaty with Lebanon, so he's unlikely to be arrested. Lebanon has indicated it will not hand over Ghosn. Tokyo prosecutors also issued arrest warrants for three Americans they said helped and planned his escape, Michael Taylor, George-Antoine Zayek and Peter Taylor. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Takahiro Saito declined to say where the three men were thought to be staying. He said Michael Taylor and George Zayek are suspected of helping Ghosn flee by hiding him in cargo at a Japanese airport and getting him into a private jet to leave the country. Saito would not say if Japan has asked U.S. authorities for help, though he said all options were being explored. Japan and the U.S. have an extradition treaty. Michael Taylor is a former Green Beret and private security specialist. Peter Taylor appears to be his son. Security footage released earlier showed Zayek and Taylor transiting Istanbul Airport at the same time Ghosn allegedly passed through Turkey on his way to Beirut. Prosecutors suspect Peter Taylor met several times with Ghosn in Tokyo, starting in July last year, to plot his escape. Saito said Ghosn was given a key to a hotel room in Osaka near the Kansai Airport that Ghosn left from. Prosecutors say Ghosn broke the law by violating bail conditions that required him to stay in Japan, mostly at his Tokyo home. “We want to stress that the act of fleeing was clearly wrong,” Saito told reporters. “We need to erase the misunderstanding.” Separately, Saito said prosecutors on Wednesday forced open a lock to search the Tokyo office of Ghosn's former defense lawyer Junichiro Hironaka for records of people Ghosn met with while out on bail, and other materials. Prosecutors are asking a judge for help in accessing contents of a computer Ghosn used at Hironaka's office that the lawyer has refused to hand over, citing attorney-client privilege. Ghosn has said he is innocent of allegations he under-reported his future income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain.

Nissan would love to build an all-electric GT-R

As the current Nissan GT-R gets older, rumors seem to be popping up with increasing frequency about what tech might be in store for the next generation. Hopping right over all of that speculation, one Nissan exec is now talking about his dreams for the company's halo model even further into the future. Regardless of whether a hybrid GT-R could be on the way, European EV Director Gareth Dunsmore thinks a fully electric version could happen one day. "I can't see a technical reason why we wouldn't be able to implement electric vehicle technology in something like a performance vehicle," Dunsmore said to Top Gear. Although don't get too excited yet, Godzilla fans. "We can't build an electric GT-R today," he admitted. "But do I want to? I'd love to." According to Dunsmore, there're still many steps before the GT-R could go fully electric. The team and Nissan would need to prove than an EV could really take on the best performance cars out there. "It needs to be a world beater," he said to Top Gear. The dream actually echoes rumors from years ago. As far back as 2010, Nissan was reportedly at least toying with the idea of making the GT-R into an EV, among some other options. The concern then was that Godzilla might be silenced by tightening emissions standards. In 2010, an electric GT-R was probably still too avant-garde to actually happen, but things have changed. A Tesla Model S in Ludicrous mode can hit 60 in a claimed 2.8 seconds, and it's not designed to be a laser-focused sports car. Imagine what could be possible, if Nissan aimed a production EV solely for performance.

Nissan NV400 becomes Japan's first electric ambulance

Consumer passenger cars aren't the only vehicles undergoing electric transformations. We've seen the introduction of early electric fire trucks, and now Japan is getting its first electric ambulance. It's a Nissan NV400, and it will be used by the Tokyo Fire Department at the Ikebukuro station. Though badged as a Nissan, the NV400 is at its heart a Renault Master Z.E. electric van. The powertrain is the same as the French van with a 33-kilowatt-hour battery (7 kWhs less than the base Nissan Leaf) and a 55-kW motor driving the front wheels. That translates to 74 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. That doesn't sound like much, but in as dense a city as Tokyo, it's not likely the NV400 will be able to reach high speeds at all, even if it had a Hellcat engine. There are a couple of unique additions to the van to enhance its ambulance capability. One is the inclusion of a separate 8-kWh lithium-ion battery that can operate all the equipment on board for long periods of time without eating into the ambulance's range. It can even be used like a generator to provide power to external emergency equipment. Then there's the stretcher, which Nissan vaguely says is electrified to make it easier to use by the medical personnel. We presume the stretcher has an electric motor to make it easier to push around. Since neither the NV400 nor its Renault counterpart is sold here, we're not expecting to see one of these ambulances in the U.S. any time soon. But electric versions of local emergency vehicles seem like a good idea, since range wouldn't be an issue, and the torque would be useful in large vehicles. Ford is readying an electric full-size Transit, which is offered in America in gas versions. Perhaps we could see some electric Ford ambulances in the near future. Related Video: