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North Carolina now charging $100-per-year EV road-use fee

Tobacco Road just got a little more expensive for drivers of electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. This year, North Carolina started instituting an annual $100 road-use fee for electric-vehicle drivers in order to close at least a little of the budgetary shortfall for road maintenance in the Tar Heel State, the News Observer reports. North Carolina legislators failed to green-light a hybrid-vehicle fee of $50 a year, which may have made a little more of a dent in the state's road funding. As it is, about 1,600 EVs are registered in North Carolina, meaning that the state will collect about $160,000 in such fees this year. And while some in the state are concerned that the fee could hurt EV adoption, others say it's fair because of the $7,500 in federal tax credits EV buyers get. Oh, and the fact that EV drivers don't pay gasoline taxes. Either way, the fees are a proverbial drop in the bucket, as North Carolina's transportation shortfall is estimated to average about $2 billion a year during the next three decades or so. Other states are starting to charge EV drivers a road-use fee as well. Last February, Washington State began instituting its own electric-vehicle fee of $100 per annum, and a number of other states are considering similar policies. News Source: News Observer via EV WorldImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Sebastian Blanco/AOL Government/Legal Green Nissan Electric north carolina

Renault wants to merge with Nissan, then go after Fiat Chrysler

The late Sergio Marchionne used to say consolidation would be the only way to compete against the biggest global carmakers. The company looks certain to fulfill that goal, but perhaps not in the way he intended. The Financial Times reports that Renault wants to begin merger talks with Nissan in the next 12 months. Assuming a merger gets completed, the plan is for the combined company to then pursue another merger, with Fiat Chrysler a prime target. Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have been busy since cutting ties with ex-alliance boss Carlos Ghosn. They formed a new alliance board with Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard at the helm, Renault has shrunk the size of its board while Nissan added more outside directors, and the two agreed to a new governance structure to ease operational decision making. All three automakers have walked away from Ghosn-era goals to sell 14 million cars and find 10 billion euros in savings by 2022. New strategic plans for all three car companies are in the works. With stability in sight, it's said Senard wants to succeed where Ghosn failed — a full-fledged merger between Renault and Nissan with talks to begin "as soon as possible." Ghosn's pursuit of a merger last year in attempt to make the 20-year-old alliance "irreversible" is part of what led to his downfall, with Nissan executives including CEO Hiroto Saikawa against the push. The new effort is presented as larger scale being the only way for the alliance to take on companies like Volkswagen and Toyota. But the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi trio sold 10.76 million cars around the world last year, second to Volkswagen with 10.83 million sales, ahead of Toyota with 10.39 million. If Nissan hadn't suffered a 2.8 percent dip in sales, the alliance would have taken the top spot. If a little scale is good that means more is better, right? Pulling Fiat Chrysler into the alliance would add around 5 million annual sales, and would be another move in Ghosn's footsteps. The former honcho is said to have "held talks with FCA" about some kind of union within the past three years. The French government, which has a 15 percent stake in Renault and double voting rights, shut down the initiative. It's not clear if FCA will be an independent company by the time a potential Nissan-Renault merger closed, though.

Driving an EV cross-country, planting trees in all 48 states

National Drive Electric Week kicks off on September 12, but Brian Kent is starting his celebration early in an incredibly green way. On August 24, he sets off in his Nissan Leaf from Albion, NY, on an odyssey to visit the 48 contiguous US states and plant a tree in each one. Along the way, he's stopping off for the EV festival's party in Jeffersontown, KY. Kent calls the 26,000-mile drive the Negative Carbon US Road Trip because in 40 years those 48 trees should trap about 10 times more CO2 than his Leaf produces on the journey. He's sponsored by Kampgrounds of America, and this modern Johnny Appleseed is sowing the plants at some of its 485 sites around North America. National Drive Electric Week currently has 146 events scheduled for this year, including several in Canada and one in Hong Kong. The annual celebration aims to get people interested in plug-in vehicles. One of the gatherings last year even had the world's largest ever parade of EVs, but the record was unofficially broken in Berlin this spring. Will we get a new record next month? Just in Time for National Drive Electric Week: A Cross-Country Trip to Raise Awareness of Plug-In Vehicles Brian Kent will log 26,000 miles in his electric car, planting one tree in 48 states along the way San Francisco, Calif., Aug. 18, 2015—Brian Kent, set to embark upon a cross-country trek in his electric car on Aug. 24, will participate in National Drive Electric Week by routing his 48-state, gasoline-free tour through the EV celebration's event in Jeffersontown, KY. Kent plans to launch his 26,000-mile journey from his home in Albion, NY, charging his Nissan LEAF in city centers and campgrounds alike and planting a tree in each state for his first annual Negative Carbon U.S. Road Trip. He will blog along the way. Volunteers and other plug-in vehicle supporters in more than 130 cities from Hilo, HI to South Portland, ME will stage ride-and-drives and related activities during National Drive Electric Week, Sept. 12-20, for the same reason that Kent is hitting the road: to raise awareness of plug-ins. "My goals are consistent with those of National Drive Electric Week," said the freelance writer. "Misperceptions are rife.