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Bret Michaels Poisons Nissan's commercial trucking ops

Mötley Crüe isn't the only 1980s hair-metal band getting into the world of auto promotion. Poison frontman and reality show star Bret Michaels is following their lead and doing some advertising of his own. Where the Crüe have been all over the airwaves in recent years with a Super Bowl ad for Kia and music licensing with Dodge, Michaels has taken a very different route by becoming the pitchman for Nissan Commercial Vehicles.
The videos run the gamut to advertise predominantly the NV line of full-size vans, but the NV200 shows up a few times too. The star of this new campaign is Michaels' full-length music video (above) for the song Tough Love. It's basically a parody of all of those '80s rock ballads where the bands would slow the tempo down a little and reveal their softer side. Michaels rocks out at the Nissan proving grounds in Stanfield, AZ, while showing off the evaluation process and strutting around like a proper rock frontman. There are also a bunch of shorter videos (below) with the singer highlighting each part of the vans' torture testing. Although, the dialogue in these come off a bit more stilted. With these '80s metal bands getting into advertising, can it be long before Warrant is shilling for Fiat or Ratt for Mazda?

Nissan plans to have 1,700 CHAdeMO chargers by April, 2016

Grab a bite, charge your Leaf. That's sort of the premise behind quick chargers that provide about 80 percent of single-charge driving range in about a half hour of charging. And Nissan says it's doing its part to expand the number of those stations to please its growing list of constituents. The first 160 quick chargers using the CHAdeMO standard were installed in the US three years ago and that number totals about 800 today. About 300 more will be added by April 1, and by April 1, 2016, the number of quick chargers could reach about 1,700. Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the cities leading the way in quick-charger availability. The Japanese automaker, which started selling the Leaf in the US in late 2010, is doing other things to make it easier for Leaf owners to recharge, whether through quick chargers or standard ones. Last summer, Nissan launched its "No Charge to Charge" program that gives new Leaf buyers free charging at participating public charging stations for two years. A 34-percent jump in Leaf sales, which is what Nissan recorded in the US last year, will do that to a company. For some more specifics of the quick charging contingent, take a look at Nissan's press release below. Fact Sheet: Nissan's commitment to EV quick charging for LEAF drivers Since the launch of the Nissan LEAF in late 2010, Nissan has reinforced its commitment to zero emission mobility with investments in EV charging infrastructure to serve the needs of LEAF drivers in markets across the U.S. Nissan has a multi-pronged strategy to invest with charging partners to install quick charging for owners in the communities where they live and work, as well as at corporate workplaces and Nissan dealerships. Timeline of (CHAdeMO) quick charging rollout: - January 2013: Approximately 160 CHAdeMO chargers installed nationwide. - January 2015: More than 800 total U.S. quick chargers installed and active. - April 1, 2015: 1,100 quick chargers expected nationwide. - April 1, 2016: 1,700 quick chargers projected. "Access to quick chargers that can provide about 80 percent charge to a Nissan LEAF battery in less than 30 minutes has proved to increase our owner satisfaction and get more buyers to consider the benefits of an all-electric car," said Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of Electric Vehicle Sales and Infrastructure Deployment.

Nissan Quest under investigation for inaccurate fuel gauges

After receiving 12 complaints in the last 14 months, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun a preliminary investigation into a fuel gauge issue with the 2007 Nissan Quest. Drivers have reported that the fuel level gauge will show there's gas in the tank when there actually isn't - in two cases, the digital distance-to-empty gauge indicated more than 70 miles of remaining range - and it will stall out.
This is the second time the 2007-model-year Quest has been involved in the same fuel gauge issue. In 2010 Nissan recalled seven models, including the Quest, from the 2005-2008 model years because of faulty fuel readings. The 12 vehicles in this latest complaint could have slipped through the cracks then, but we'll find out more when NHTSA updates its progress with the investigation into the estimated 37,656 units.