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Nissan already planning for EV sales once incentives run out

The way Nissan looks at it, no good deed goes unpunished. The Japanese automaker will likely be the first to see federal incentives for its electric vehicles disappear. And the company may already be trying to work out some wiggle room with the powers that be. The issue is that the Nissan Leaf is the most popular electric-vehicle in the US, moving more than 77,000 vehicles since the model's late-2010 debut. Sales have likely been helped by the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs (along with additional state incentives), but that perk starts to disappear for Nissan once the automaker has sold a cumulative 200,000 EVs. Even though that's likely a few years off, Nissan North America executive Pierre Loing told Wards Auto that the company is talking with the feds to see if there is "room for negotiations." In the meantime, Nissan is trying to further cut battery-production costs in order to both reduce the price on the Leaf and lengthen its single-charge range. Nissan notably shaved $6,400 off of the Leaf's sticker price in early 2013, and that seems to have worked wonders. Leaf sales more than doubled that year to 22,610 units and jumped another 34 percent last year to 30,200 units. Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 13 Photos News Source: Wards Auto Government/Legal Green Nissan Electric legislation

2015 Nissan Juke keeps its funky

The Nissan Juke is one of the most polarizing vehicles on the road today, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a sales success, especially in Europe. Nissan is giving the the CUV its first styling refresh at the Geneva Motor Show. While the design changes will almost certainly be universal, the mechanical changes are still somewhat of a mystery for the US market. Nissan makes it clear in its press release below that it covers only the European model, and details about the North American model are coming later.
The exterior changes put a focus on making the Juke look a bit more angular and sporty. The lights on the fenders are now formed into a jagged point and somewhat echo the boomerang-shaped taillights. It also features Nissan's new, thicker V-shaped chrome grille. The door mirrors receive LED turn signals, and the lower portion of the rear receives a simulated mesh grille to look more aggressive. Other than some new color schemes, the interior is basically unchanged. However, the luggage area has been reshaped to increase storage capacity by 40 percent to 12.5 cubic feet (354 liters).
European buyers are getting a new 1.2-liter DIG-T turbocharged engine with 113 horsepower (115PS) and 140 pound-feet of torque (190Nm), and the 1.6 DIG-T also gets an increased compression ratio to produce 188 hp and is offered with either a six-speed manual or Nissan's Xtronic CVT. The all-wheel-drive system has also been upgraded with a torque vectoring system.

Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt sales both down in June

The best news you can slice out of today's sales reports for June 2015 is that things have to get better at some point. Most likely, sales of the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt will see a big increase once the second-generation models of both vehicles arrive (the Volt later this year and the Leaf, well, at some point after that). For now, though, the best-selling EVs in the US are both suffering compared to where the numbers were at last year. The numbers are also suffering compared to last month, which was the best of the year so far for both vehicles. Looking just at June, though, Leaf sales totaled 2,074 units, down 11.6 percent from a year ago (the EV sold 2,347 units in June 2014). The world's best-selling EV is now down 22.9 percent for the year so far (12,736 in 2014 vs. 9,816 in 2015). Things are a bit worse over at Chevy, where news about the pretty-much-better-in-all-ways second-gen Volt is coming out with great frequency. Nonetheless, people are still buying the outgoing Volt, snapping up 1,225 units in June. That's down 31.1 percent from the 1,777 sold in June 2014. So far in 2015, the Chevy has sold 5,622 Volts, a drop of 34.7 percent from the 8,615 Volts sold in the first six months of 2014. As always, we're working on our full tally of green car sales for June and will bring that to you shortly. For now, discuss the sales of these two plug-in pioneers in our Comments, below. News Source: GM, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Hybrid ev sales