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Nissan Shows Self-Cleaning Car Coated In Nano Paint

Washing the car is an activity like mowing the lawn that some people love and others find to be an absolute chore. For the latter group, Nissan may have an answer. Nissan is testing a nano-paint coating that could make the car wash a very infrequent place to visit. Shown on a European Note hatchback, the key is a special layer of super- hydrophobic and oleophobic material called Ultra-Ever Dry that is sprayed over the paint. It creates a protective layer between the body and environment, and it means that when dirt or water come into contact with the car, the gunk just sheets away. Nissan admits that the coating is still early in testing. The key will be if the stuff can actually last for the long term, and the company will be analyzing it over the coming months to see how it will react in different conditions. At the moment, the automaker has no plans to offer Ultra-Ever Dry as a standard feature, but it may make it available as an aftermarket addition in the future. This article originally appeared on Autoblog.com Related Gallery Clean Diesels Coming To The US Weird Car News Nissan Maintenance car cleaning

Nissan Sport Sedan Concept foretells a future Maxima

Nissan is in the midst of overhauling its design language. We got our first glimpse at the direction its style was going a year ago with the Resonance crossover concept, which was followed in Shanghai by the connected-car Friend-Me hatchback concept. And now, after dropping a few hints, Nissan has revealed the third in this developing series.
Unveiled at today's Detroit Auto Show, the new Sport Sedan Concept applies many of the same design elements we've seen on Nissan's previous show cars to a more conventional four-door shape. But far from a design exercise, the decidedly uncreatively named Sport Sedan Concept previews "a future production sports sedan," which has every indication of being the next Maxima.
Its dimensions reveal the concept to be bigger than the current Maxima in every direction but height, with that visual impression further entrenched by a floating roof design that combines with a high waistline to give a coupe-like profile. There are also sharp creases in the bodywork that visually break up the space between the rear set of 21-inch alloys and the tapered greenhouse. The shape is further punctuated by the V-shaped grille and distinctly Nissan boomerang-shaped lights that lend a face to this distinctly Japanese design that was penned in California and honed back in Japan. The sharp and simple cabin is characterized by a high-contrast palette with quilted leather and metallic trim.

Nissan could offer plug-in hybrids by 2016

Nissan is recharging the idea of a production plug-in hybrid model. The Japanese automaker may start making a plug-in hybrid by as soon as late 2015, with deliveries to start in time for the 2016 model year, Green Car Reports says, citing an interview with company executive Andy Palmer. Those comments go against what Nissan said during the North American Auto Show in January. Palmer didn't specify what class of vehicle the plug-in hybrid would be, but he said battery-electric vehicles are best suited for cars 3,850 pounds or lighter, according to Green Car Reports. That would imply that the plug-in hybrid powertrain may be used for a mid-sized sedan or a crossover vehicle. Either way, a Nissan PHEV may pair the Nissan Leaf's 108-horsepower electric motor with a gas engine. Whether Palmer's projected timeframe was more of a ballpark estimate is anyone's guess, as the company hasn't made official plans for a 2016 model-year plug-in hybrid, Nissan spokesman Tim Gallagher wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. Either way, feel free to join us in the comments below. Nissan is coming off its best-ever sale month for the Leaf, which has moved about 115,000 units around the world. Domestic sales of the Leaf in May rose 46 percent from a year earlier to a monthly record 3,117 vehicles. Through the first five months of the year, Leaf sales increased 36 percent, to 10,389 units.