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Nissan says these are the five best European EV drives

If you want to combine the beauty of Europe with the beauty of silent, electric motoring, Nissan has a travel guide for you. The makers of the Leaf and e-NV200 took both vehicles on five road trips in the UK and on The Continent, then worked up a home video of the adventure. All the highlights are in the video above. From shortest to lengthiest, the jaunts are Dundry to Bristol in England, Versailles to Paris in France, Sitges to Barcelona in Spain, Malmo, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Rieti to Rome in Italy. Every one of them is indeed a gorgeous way to spend a day, but in view of the Leaf's 135-kilometer range and the e-NV200's 170-km range you'll want to take your time on those trips to get the most out of them. That UK drive is 5.8 miles, less than 10 kilometers. The French route is 23.3 km, the Spanish route is 36.9 km, the oversea excursion from Denmark to Sweden eats up 44 km, and Italy chews through 87.4 km of range. We'd suggest renting a Tesla Model S and using the widespread Supercharger network to go the distance in Europe, but we understand why Nissan didn't include that option in their own promotional video. Nissan chose four of the locales for deeper purposes, as well: Bristol recently opened 100 EV charging stations, Paris will soon host a UN climate change summit, Nissan builds the e-NV200 in Barcelona, and crossing the 4.9-mile Oresund Bridge meant to test cold-weather hardiness. Rome was because, well, why not? Related Video:

Nissan leaning on JATCO to remedy CVT problems

Nissan's decision to fit continuously variable transmissions across even more of its new models may be coming back to bite the Japanese automaker, as it's been hampered by customer satisfaction issues relating to its XTronic CVTs, which are provided by a supplier called JATCO.
From what we're understanding, the issue largely relates to customers' unfamiliarity with the non-traditional shift nature of a CVT. Dealers have reported complaints and service visits from owners over the belt-driven automatics (did these people not test drive the cars before they bought them and notice that they don't shift conventionally?).
The company, which Nissan owns 75 percent of, has come under fire from none other than Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who's spoken about JATCO and its troubles rather openly. "Every time you launch a new CVT you always have some risks," Ghosn said in an interview with Automotive News. "So we now have a process by which, before we launch any new CVT, [JATCO] come before the Nissan executive committee to explain all the measures they have taken to make sure there are no surprises."

Chinese-designed Nissan Lannia Concept debuts in Beijing

Nissan showed off a stylish new concept car to the assembled crowds of media at the Beijing Motor Show. The Lannia Concept is... well, it's not that easy to describe. It's kind of a sedan, only it looks a bit like a fastback from the rear. But for a twist, it has an ever-so-small rear deck. Regardless of how we'd classify it, it's a seriously sharp piece of styling, thanks to its unique shape and flowing character lines.
If the Lannia's styling appears familiar, it's because we've sort of seen it before. There's more than a little bit of inspiration from the Friend-Me Concept. The Lannia's overall shape is similar to the Friend-Me, while both the front and rear clips look decidedly more production ready. Considering this evolution, we shouldn't rule out a production Lannia in the next few years. And if Nissan's product boss, Andy Palmer is any indication, the new model might not be limited to China.
"It was designed by Chinese, built by Chinese for the Chinese people, and ultimately, for the world," Palmer said in a statement. If Nissan can keep this sharp styling, this could prove a compelling buy in a number of markets.