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Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy teases Bolt driving range, China pursues EV subsidy cheaters

Chevy is teasing the Bolt's driving range, which it is set to reveal on Tuesday. It will certainly be able to travel more than 200 miles between charges, but the second and third digits in that value, as it stands today, are still question marks. On its Facebook page, Chevrolet is asking fans to try to guess the official range. Of course, Tesla fans have already started posting their own snide remarks in the comments. Chevy fans are certainly hoping to see the Bolt's range eclipse that of Tesla's upcoming Model 3, which the California-based automaker puts at 215 miles. See Chevy's post on Facebook to make your own guess, or check back there (or here at AutoblogGreen) for the official number once it is unveiled. Fuel cell company PowerCell Sweden says it has signed an agreement with a Chinese company to make range extenders for commercial trucks. The unnamed Chinese customer has placed an order and signed a memorandum of understanding with PowerCell Sweden, and the partners will develop methanol reformer fuel cell range extenders for electric distribution trucks. "Our unique expertise in fuel cells and reformer technology is receiving an increasing attention worldwide and we are truly pleased to get another Chinese order," says PowerCell Sweden Sales Director Andreas Boden. Read more at Green Car Congress, or from PowerCell. China is accusing major automakers of violating EV subsidy rules. After the country's Ministry of Finance penalized five companies with fines and, in one case, revocation of production license for subsidy cheats, China has since named 20 more potential violators, including Nissan, Hyundai, JAC, and a subsidiary of BYD. Of the first five companies to be punished under the investigation, Suzhou Gemsea Coach Manufacturing is having its production license revoked, while four others, including a subsidiary of Chery, are being fined for about half of the subsidies received. The scandal is bad new for China's subsidy program, which has helped spur sales of plug-in vehicles. Read more from Fortune, or at Hybrid Cars.

Nissan's front-engined Le Mans car caught testing at COTA

As far as we can tell, not only is it true, it's wilder than we could have expected: not only does the Nissan LMP1 entry for Le Mans have its engine in the front, it apparently uses that combustion engine to power the front wheels while its KERS unit powers the rear wheels. Those rear wheels could be of smaller diameter than the front wheels, and total system horsepower for the racer "is a conservative 2,000 [hp]." And check out how far back that pilot is sitting. Let's start with what's been seen in person. A race team testing at the Circuit of the Americas caught the GT-R LM on track a few days ago, so Jalopnik schlepped out to the track the following day and took photos and video. There's a big ol' meaty front end where the twin-turbo Cosworth V6 lives, and that gives way to a trimmer back end. Mulsanne Corner, which has been following the car's development, figures the weight balance percentage is around 55- to 58-percent in the front through strategic placement of the KERS unit and radiators, putting it in the same division as proper mid-engined cars. A prop shaft runs from the KERS in front to the rear of the car. It's speculated that the rear wheels are smaller than the front wheels because of that narrower rear end. In some of the Jalopnik photos the rear wheels do look smaller, which could explain the complicated half-shaft and drop-gear arrangement thought to be housed back there. If all that is true this will already be the "radically different" car Nissan wanted to build. Yet there's more: Mulsanne Corner says the Nissan is targeting an ultra low drag setup, so there's a lot of talk about the car not having a rear wing, or only the hint of one, and Nissan plotting "mental" speed targets for the French track. Having the engine in front is what would offer more flexibility with the rear wing. There's a good chance we'll know what it looks like on February 1, during the Super Bowl. Nissan will air a 60-second spot, and the advance tweet with the tagline "We're Back" and a helmet promises something racey. There are more pics over at Jalopnik along with a brief video of it running at speed.

Renault selling part of Nissan stake to partner for $824 million

Renault SA is selling around 5% of its stake in partner Nissan Motor Co., offloading the stock as part of a share buyback by the Japanese carmaker.  The move follows last month’s finalization of a plan for Renault to reduce its interest in Nissan. The stake sale is valued at around ˆ765 million ($824 million), but will result in a capital loss of ˆ1.5 billion, the French company said Tuesday.  Eventually, the two carmakers aim to equalize their cross-shareholdings at 15%, loosening the ties that kept them together in a carmaking alliance for two decades. The partnership between Nissan and Renault was jolted in 2018 by the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both companies. Since then, they have drifted apart and are now charting separate paths. Given that NissanÂ’s shares are trading below the Tokyo Stock ExchangeÂ’s guideline of maintaining a price-to-book ratio above 1, the buyback will “help improve the situation,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. The cash will bolster Chief Executive Officer Luca de MeoÂ’s efforts to get Ampere, RenaultÂ’s electric-vehicle and software arm, going as he seeks to split off the unit and list it as a separate public entity as soon as April or May. Nissan has also agreed to invest in Ampere. Renault transferred its 28.4% stake in Nissan into a trust in early November to pave the way for a reduction of its holding. Even so, there will still be lock-up and standstill obligations. De Meo said last month that Renault would begin offloading the stake “very soon” in early 2024, so TuesdayÂ’s announcement was slightly earlier than anticipated. For Nissan, the buyback is well within the value of cash and equivalents, which stood at JPY1.6 trillion ($11 billion) yen at the end of September. Nissan said it will cancel all acquired shares.  “ItÂ’s good news for the stock that Nissan will retire the equivalent of 5% of its outstanding shares,” Yoshida said.  The Japanese carmaker is paying JPY568.5 for each share, the price at the close of trading in Tokyo on Tuesday. While NissanÂ’s stock has climbed 36% this year, itÂ’s at roughly half of its value from early 2017. Earnings/Financials Nissan Renault