2013 Nissan Rogue Sl Htd Leather Sunroof Nav Xenons 25k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch Nissan's autonomous Leaf in action

Getting its semi-autonomous Leaf legalized in Japan was just the first step. Now, Nissan is giving demonstrations of what its fully autonomous car is capable of at this year's Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) show - Japan's equivalent to America's Consumer Electronics Show. To show off the possibilities of its technologies, Nissan had an oval track set up at the show giving rides in an autonomous Leaf to the media. Even Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Toyota CEO Akio Toyodo caught a ride.
Nissan has since released a couple videos of its CEATEC demos, with one designed to look like a news report. In this video, you can watch the car go around the track and navigate intersections and road hazards. The second video shows Ghosn riding in the car, and he hints that Nissan's goal of having an autonomous vehicle in production by 2020 might be more of a worst-case scenario. Watch both videos and read through Nissan's official press release below.

Nissan 370Z Nismo Roadster Concept looks ready to roll

Honestly, we're kind of surprised this hasn't happened already. The Nissan 370Z Nismo is a pretty cool little package, better than ever in its 2015 model year iteration. So why not apply that same, go-faster, look-cooler formula to the topless Z Roadster? That's exactly what Nissan's done here in Chicago, showing the 370Z Nismo Roadster you see here. Aesthetically, it's pretty much the same as the coupe – except, of course, for the folding cloth roof that neatly stows behind the front seats. It's mechanically the same, too, with Nissan's 3.7-liter naturally aspirated V6 underhood, making 350 horsepower. Oddly, the concept car uses the company's seven-speed automatic transmission, but as Nissan explains, the majority of Z Roadster buyers spec their cars with the slushbox. "While it is only a design study at this point, we think the 370Z Nismo Roaster Concept would be a tremendous addition to the long and distinguished history of Z sports cars," Pierre Loing, Nissan's vice president of product planning in North America, said in a press release. It sure looks production-ready to us. Nissan 370Z NISMO Roadster Concept makes world debut at 2015 Chicago Auto Show - Combines legendary NISMO performance, style and technology with Nissan 370Z Roadster open-air motoring excitement - One-off design study created to gauge market interest in an ultimate factory Z® Roadster - Offers unique engine, suspension, exterior and interior features versus standard Nissan 370Z Roadster models – including 350-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 and NISMO-tuned suspension - Would join current Nissan 370Z NISMO coupe model, expanding NISMO lineup to five models As the heart and soul of Nissan performance for both the track and on the street, NISMO continues to set the standard for straight-from-the-factory enthusiast vehicles. The lineup of NISMO production models for 2015 includes the GT-R NISMO, 370Z NISMO, JUKE NISMO and JUKE NISMO RS. Yet as the popularity of NISMO models continues to grow – the 2015 GT-R NISMO is sold out, the 370Z NISMO accounts for 20 percent of total sales and JUKE NISMO models for about 15 percent – one group of performance enthusiast remains left out: Open-air sports car lovers. Enter the Nissan 370Z NISMO Roadster Concept, which makes its world debut at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show. The custom vehicle combines the long list of 370Z NISMO Coupe performance equipment with a modified 370Z Roadster body and interior.

Nissan, Infiniti will each show a next-gen concept EV in Detroit

The chief designer for Nissan and Infiniti said Wednesday that both brands will debut concept electric vehicles at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January that will likely show off Nissan's next-generation electric drive systems and the evolution of the brands' EV design direction first hinted at with Infiniti's stunning Q Inspiration. Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design for Nissan, said the concepts will reflect a similar departure from standard vehicle proportions as the Q Inspiration. He would not say exactly what segment or segments the concepts would represent, but he dropped some hints at a couple possible powertrains for the concepts. Similar additional concepts will follow later in the year at the Tokyo Motor Show, he said. "The Q Inspiration kind of hinted at it and we avoided discussing too much about what's driving that car. Of course, we talked about VC-Turbo, which is also possible," he said in an interview with Autoblog. "But if you really look at the car, Q Insipiration shifted the cabin forward. It was the first one to break the [mold] of Infiniti. So how to still have this artistry and this sense of carrozzerie" (Italian for coachbuilding) "of Infiniti without kind of the stereotypical long hood and the cabin shifted back and the windshield has to go through the center of the front wheel, these golden rules." Infiniti debuted the Q Inspiration concept sedan in Detroit in January, with a swoopy, ghost-like design influenced by an archer shooting an arrow through the air, and innovative design features like an elongated cabin that expands interior space, a relative lack of chrome, and other features. It's powered by a compact variable compression turbocharged engine, which can change compression ratios on the fly to maximize efficiency and power, depending on the situation. But Albaisa said the two concepts for Detroit could feature Nissan's e-Power series hybrid technology, which has mostly featured in Japan, and which features small, isolated gasoline engines that exist only to charge the batteries, not drive the wheels. They will also feature a new generation of battery packs, which he calls a "magic carpet." "It's getting denser, it's getting thinner, the cars are able to get a little bit bigger, more space, we can really do much more," he said.