*2002 Nissan Sentra Gxe Sedan /runs Great/excellant Fuel Milage/reliable* on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Some NY cabs could avoid hybrid ban

The Nissan NV200 is having a rough go of it as New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow. The Greater New York Taxi Association wants the van banned on the grounds that it isn't a hybrid, and has gone so far as to sue the city to keep the NV200 out of taxi fleets. According to The New York Times, the city has responded by proposing to allow taxi drivers to use certain hybrid vehicles. The Taxi and Limousine Commission's proposal would allow any vehicle with an interior volume of 138 cubic feet or more. Unfortunately, that excludes nearly every machine that isn't the size of the NV200.
Technically, Nissan is working on a hybrid version of the Taxi of Tomorrow, but it may be years before that model hits the streets, and the Greater New York Taxi Association isn't satisfied with the city's offer. In a statement, the Association said, "These rules look like they have been created to short-circuit the litigation. We do not consider this to be a serious proposal."

Nissan drives glowing Leaf on Holland's glowing highway

If you thought that applying phosphorescent paint to the Nissan Leaf made it look like something out of Tron already, brother... you don't know the half of it. Or at least you won't have until you see what the car looks like on a glow-in-the-dark highway. A glow-in-the-what-now, you ask? That's right: for about a third of a mile on the N329 in the Netherlands, running through the city of Oss, the highway glows in the dark. Not the whole roadway, of course. That'd be weird. Even for the Dutch. No, the so-called Smart Highway designed by Daan Roosegaarde (whose Dutch heritage is evident by the number of vowels in his name) uses phosphorescent stripes to obviate the need for lighting. They work just like the paint on the Leaf (or for that matter any number of toys we had as kids), absorbing sunlight during the day and emitting it at night... in this case for up to eight hours. The resulting footage and photography, though surely heavily edited, needs to be seen to be believed. That is, assuming you don't already live in a computer where users force you to play in games for their own amusement and Jeff Bridges runs amok. Related Video: BRIGHT FUTURE: NISSAN LEAF IS FIRST GLOW-IN-THE-DARK CAR TO DRIVE GLOWING HIGHWAY · All-electric Nissan LEAF is the first glow-in-the-dark car to drive on the luminous Smart Highway in Oss, Netherlands · Unique highway design saves energy by removing need for street lights · Nissan EV sales increase by 313% across the Netherlands · Watch the film at: https://youtu.be/8Dv3PxDj2ks Nissan has blazed a trail by driving its unique glow-in-the-dark zero-emission LEAF along the world's first glow-in-the-dark motorway in Oss, Netherlands. Nissan recently became the first modern passenger car manufacturer to apply glow-in-the-dark car paint to a car, to showcase how many customers of the world's best-selling electric vehicle are powering their car from solar energy generated at home. Now it has gone one step further, by driving the all-electric Nissan LEAF on the Smart Highway – the first time a phosphorescent car has been driven on the famous stretch of road. And the location of the world's only luminescent highway was fitting, as Nissan has announced an uplift in electric vehicle sales of 313 percent in the Netherlands last year. The innovative Smart Highway project was conceived by designer Daan Roosegaarde to help guide drivers in the dark, while saving energy that might otherwise be used in street lighting.

Why Japan's government is looking to curb its adorable kei car market

Each region around the world has its stereotypical vehicle. The US has the pickup and Europe the five-door hatchback; but in Japan, the kei car reigns supreme. These tiny cars are limited to just 660cc of displacement but they've also come with lower taxes to make them more affordable. To make of the most of their small size, they've often had quite boxy styling like the Honda N-One shown above, and because they're Japanese, they've often had quirky names like the Nissan Dayz Roox. However, if the Japanese government has its way, the future popularity of these little guys might be in jeopardy. The problem facing them is that Japan is an island both literally and figuratively. After World War II, the Japanese government created the class as a way to make car ownership more accessible. The tiny engines generally meant better fuel economy to deal with the nation's expensive gas, and the tax benefits also helped. It's made the segment hugely popular even today, with kei cars making up roughly 40 percent of the nation's new cars sales last year, according to The New York Times. The downside is that these models are almost never exported because they aren't as attractive to buyers elsewhere (if indeed they even meet overseas regulations). So if an automaker ends up with a popular kei model, it can't really market it elsewhere. The government now sees that as a threat to the domestic auto industry. It believes that every yen invested into kei development is wasted, and the production takes up needed capacity at auto factories. The state would much rather automakers create exportable models. To do this, it's trying to make the little cars less attractive to buy, and thus, less attractive to build. The authorities recently increased taxes on kei cars by 50 percent to narrow the difference between standard cars, according to the NYT. If kei cars do lose popularity, it could open the market up to greater competition from foreign automakers. Several companies complained about the little cars stranglehold on the Japanese market last year, but since then, imported car sales there have shown some growth thanks to the improving economy. Featured Gallery 2013 Honda N-One View 20 Photos News Source: The New York TimesImage Credit: Honda Government/Legal Honda Nissan JDM kei kei car