Grossman's Automotive Update

2009 Chevrolet Aveo LT Hatchback 34K Automatic | Old Saybrook | eBay Classifieds (Kijiji) | 8028837

2010-12-20T17:08:00.000-05:00

2009 Chevrolet Aveo LT Hatchback 34K Automatic | Old Saybrook | eBay Classifieds (Kijiji) | 8028837

http://www.nissanusa.com/future-and-concept-vehicles/future-vehicles.html

2010-11-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.nissanusa.com/future-and-concept-vehicles/future-vehicles.html

Lance Armstrongs Nissan Leaf

2010-10-01T16:34:00.000-04:00

Lance Armstrong Receives Nation’s First Nissan Leaf Filed under: cars-houses, transport — Michael dEstries @ 11:13 am

October
1st
2010

Lance Armstrong took to Twitter yesterday to announce that he had received his brand new all-electric Nissan Leaf — and he threw a photo up to prove it.

The seven-time Tour de France winner is the official spokesperson for the Leaf — and believes it to be an evolution of the car industry.

“Anytime you talk about technology — if it’s a computer, or if it’s a phone, or if it’s a bicycle — you always talk about next level,” he said earlier this year. “Like, what’s next level? Next level is the stuff that just blows you away. To me, the Leaf was just really, in my opinion, what I would call next level.”

Nissan expects to start selling the vehicle in limited quantities to the public in about three months. For more information, hit the official site here.

State of Connecticut and CL & P Supports Nissan Leaf by auto-mobi.info

2010-10-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

Gov. Rell, CL&P Welcome Nissan LEAF All-Electric Car to Connecticut
Friday, 01 October 2010
Signaling the state’s readiness for environmentally clean transportation, Governor M. Jodi Rell today welcomed the all-electric Nissan LEAF to Connecticut with the signing of a collaborative agreement to help advance electric vehicles in the state.

With Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Butler and representatives of Nissan North America on hand at a ceremony at the Connecticut Science Center, Rell lauded the launch of Nissan’s battery-powered car. The Nissan LEAF goes on sale in limited markets in December and will be available nationwide some time in 2011.

“The inclusion of Connecticut in the launch of the Nissan LEAF recognizes our commitment to clean energy and the culmination of our work to prepare the state for the next generation of electric vehicles,” said Gov. Rell.

As a member of the Governor’s Electric Vehicles Infrastructure Council, CL&P has been studying and testing charging infrastructure and encouraging automakers to include Connecticut in their electric vehicle launch plans.

“With electric vehicles, our existing electric system offers our customers an alternative fuel source for a more sustainable transportation solution,” said CL&P President Jeff Butler.

“Nissan is a leader in electric vehicles, and the state of Connecticut has shown similar leadership through its progressive policies and focus on clean energy," said Tracy Woodard, director of government affairs, Nissan North America. "Nissan and the state will work together to help Connecticut be ready for electric vehicles and the 2011 introduction of the Nissan LEAF to the region."

The Nissan LEAF is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack instead of an internal combustion engine. There are no tailpipe emissions, and the vehicle can get up to 100 miles on a single battery charge for far less than the cost of gasoline.

CL&P is currently studying the integration of electric cars like the Nissan LEAF with its electric distribution system. The utility has prototype vehicle charging stations installed at its Berlin campus and the Hartford headquarters of its parent company, Northeast Utilities. Through NU, CL&P is a member of the Regional Electric Vehicle Initiative (REVI), a collaborative effort by utilities in New England to share information to ensure the smooth introduction of EV technology to the regional electric system.

For more on the Nissan LEAF, visit www.NissanUSA.com. To view the final report of the Governor’s Electric Vehicles Infrastructure Council, go to www.ct.gov/dpuc/evic.

The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) has been part of everyday life in Connecticut for more than 100 years, providing safe and reliable electric service to homes, neighborhoods and businesses. With 1.2 million customers in 149 cities and towns, CL&P is improving the environments you live in, by offering programs in energy conservation, economic development and environmental stewardship. CL&P is a Northeast Utilities company (NYSE: NU). For more information, please visit www.cl-p.com.

Nissan's marketing pays off, so it spends more

2010-08-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Nissan's marketing pays off, so it spends more
Lindsay Chappell
Automotive News | August 16, 2010 - 12:01 am EST
Aggressive incentives and ad spending have helped Nissan North America Inc. rack up a bigger sales gain this year than Asian rivals Toyota, Honda and Hyundai-Kia. Now Nissan plans more of the same.

Al Castignetti, Nissan Division vice president, told dealers last week at a Las Vegas business meeting that the brand decided in July to add $100 million to its national marketing budget to stoke the sales fire. The funds will begin hitting the market this month.

"We dialed back our spending last year, like everybody else, and this year we've been really getting back into the marketing game," Castignetti says, declining to reveal what this year's budget was before the $100 million was added.

In last year's recession, the Japanese automaker cut its U.S. ad budget 42 percent to $690.9 million, down from $1.19 billion in 2008, according to Advertising Age. By comparison, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group reduced its 2009 budget by 22 percent, from $513 million in 2008 to $402 million last year.

Incentive spending
Per vehicle in July
GM $4,185
Chrysler $3,132
Ford $3,111
Nissan $2,957
Toyota $2,234
Hyundai-Kia $1,907
Honda $1,736
Source: Edmunds.com

Dealers received the news on the same day that Kelley Blue Book reported that Hyundai has displaced Nissan as the fifth-most-considered brand among vehicle shoppers.

"The success of the Koreans has been well noted lately, but Nissan has really been moving ahead in sales," observes Jack Nerad, Kelley Blue Book market analyst. "They have snuck up kind of quietly."

Nerad believes Nissan is reaping the benefits of what he calls "the return of the value shopper to the marketplace" -- an increase in consumers looking for a low monthly car note.

"It's really a battle between Nissan and Hyundai to win these value shoppers," he says.

Nissan Division’s Al Castignetti admits that incentives help sales but says the availability of leasing financing also plays a role.
Castignetti agrees value shopping is a big factor now.

"A lot of consumers have gone through a philosophical change over the past two years," he says. "Instead of shopping to get the most car they can buy, they're looking for the best price they can get."

In Miami and some other markets, dealers have been offering 39-month leases on Nissan Versas for a $149 a month. The Nissan Altima is leasing for $199 a month. By comparison, Honda has been marketing its competing Accord for $270 a month. Nationally through July, Versa sales are up 54 percent; Altima sales are up 13 percent; and Accord sales are up 16 percent.

Jessica Caldwell, an analyst for Edmunds.com, says Nissan has been pounding out a marketing message of low-price deals. "They've been very aggressive in promoting attractive monthly prices," Caldwell says. "It's helping them distance themselves from the other imports."

Castignetti acknowledges incentives are helping fan the flame. Still, "we're nowhere near our record levels," he says. "We've been very diligent about that. We're below industry average. We're looking for very healthy growth."

He contends that other factors also are playing a role in Nissan's surge this year, including the availability of leasing financing at Nissan dealers.

"Last year at this time, some of our competitors were getting out of leasing," Castignetti says. "Nissan stayed in it. As a result, you've seen a lot of customers coming off lease at GM and Chrysler who still needed to lease and had to go elsewhere. We were able to win some of that business."

He says leasing has held steady at about 20 percent of the Nissan brand's portfolio. But given the rise in sales this year, that represents roughly 18,000 additional leases through the end of July.

Castignetti says Nissan also has benefited from a resurging light-truck business.

"We're doing great in body-on-frame," he says, referring to such products as the compact Frontier pickup, up nearly 50 percent through July, and the full-sized Armada SUV, up 129 percent from a year ago.

"The domestic manufacturers cut back on their production, and Toyota has moved its Sequoia up in price. There are people out there who really need a large SUV. So suddenly, Armada is one of our hottest products of the year," Castignetti says

By comparison, Nissan's Korean competitors, Hyundai and Kia, are not in the pickup or full-sized SUV segments.

At last week's Las Vegas meeting, Castignetti told dealers Nissan expects to move the brand into a new level of sales with additional products over the next two to three years, including the new Juke small crossover and the electric Leaf coming late this year.

He acknowledges that being displaced by Hyundai as the No. 5 brand for shopping consideration hurts Nissan. But he vows to hold off the Korean brand.

"Hyundai has done an admirable job," he concedes. "But with what we have coming over the next couple of years, we'll recapture that."

Nissan overperforms
Jan.-July sales Change vs. 2009
Toyota-Lexus-Scion 1,015,766 8%
Honda-Acura 706,346 9%
Nissan-Infiniti 522,669 25%
Hyundai-Kia 515,376 21%
Source: Automotive News Data Center

Retail Sales in February

2010-03-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

Retail Sales Take A Surprising Turn In February
by The Associated Press

March 12, 2010

Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers did not let major snowstorms stop them from storming the malls. The advance, the biggest since November, provided hope that the recovery from the Great Recession is gaining momentum.

The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales rose 0.3 percent in February, surpassing expectations that sales would decline by 0.2 percent.

The overall gain was held back by a 2 percent decline in auto sales, reflecting in part the recall problems at Toyota. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.8 percent, far better than the 0.1 percent rise outside of autos that economists had forecast.

The gains outside of autos were widespread with sales rising at department stores, furniture stores, appliance shops and hardware stores. Restaurants and bars enjoyed a 0.9 percent advance, their biggest gain in nearly two years, possibly an indication that snowbound Americans decided to visit their local eating and drinking establishments to get a break from their homes.

Consumer spending is being watched carefully because it accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity. Economists have been worried that the economic recovery they believe began last summer could falter if consumer spending begins to lag. The better-than-expected February gain could ease those concerns.

Economists are hoping that businesses, which have shed 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, will soon start rehiring laid off workers. That would give households the incomes they need to support spending growth.

Some analysts had suspected that the February retail sales report could offer a surprise on the upside given encouraging news last week from the nation's big retail chains.

The International Council of Shopping Centers had reported that sales jumped 3.7 percent in February compared to a year ago, the biggest gain since November 2007, the month before the recession began. That marked the third consecutive increase.

Shoppers shrugged off major snowstorms to visit a broad array of merchants from luxury retailer Nordstrom to middlebrow Macy's Inc. to discounter Target Corp. All three chains reported solid sales increases that beat analysts expectations.

The Commerce report showed that the 0.3 percent February gain followed a 0.1 percent rise in January, which had originally been reported as a stronger increase of 0.5 percent.

The retail sales report Friday showed that sales at general merchanside stores, the category that includes department stores and big discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ose by 1 percent in February after a 1.3 percent rise in January. Sales at appliance stores were up 3.7 percent while sales at hardware stores rose by 0.5 percent. Sales at gasoline stations posed a 0.3 percent rise.

Leaf's limited use may come cheaper than Volt - Boston Overdrive - Boston.com

2010-03-01T10:05:00.001-05:00

Leaf's limited use may come cheaper than Volt - Boston Overdrive - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

From MSNBC.com "Toyota revelations may free jailed driver"

2010-02-26T15:43:00.001-05:00

MSNBC.com

Toyota revelations may free jailed driver
Criminal cases involving acceleration being re-examined amid recalls
The Associated Press
updated 11:27 a.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 26, 2010
LINO LAKES, Minnesota - Ever since his 1996 Toyota Camry shot up an interstate ramp, plowing into the back of an Oldsmobile in a horrific crash that killed three people, Koua Fong Lee insisted he had done everything he could to stop the car.

A jury didn't believe him, and a judge sentenced him to eight years in prison. But now, new revelations of safety problems with Toyotas have Lee pressing to get his case reopened and his freedom restored. Relatives of the victims — who condemned Lee at his sentencing three years ago — now believe he is innocent and are planning to sue Toyota. The prosecutor who sent Lee to prison said he thinks the case merits another look.

"I know 100 percent in my heart that I took my foot off the gas and that I was stepping on the brakes as hard as possible," Lee said in an interview Wednesday at the state prison in Lino Lakes. "When the brakes were looked at and we were told that nothing was wrong with the brakes, I was shocked."

Lee's accident is among a growing number of cases, some long resolved, that are getting new attention since Toyota admitted its problems with sudden acceleration were more extensive than originally believed. Numerous lawsuits involving Toyota accidents have been filed over the recent revelations, and attorneys expect the numbers will climb.

In testimony before Congress, company executives renewed their apologies for underestimating the safety problems but also acknowledged that they still may not have identified all the causes for the sudden acceleration.

The uncertainty could wind up helping Lee and others. Attorneys for both the 32-year-old St. Paul man as well as the victims' families say they're encouraged by the evidence that the problems went beyond models that originally were recalled.

If Lee's car was defective, "We don't want an innocent man sitting in prison," said Phil Carruthers, who prosecuted the case for Ramsey County.

A Toyota spokesman declined to comment on Lee's case.

Lee, a recent Hmong immigrant with only about a year of driving experience, was driving his pregnant wife, 4-year-old daughter, father and brother home from church the afternoon of June 10, 2006, when their Camry zoomed up an Interstate 94 exit ramp in St. Paul. Police said it was traveling between 70 and 90 mph when it rear-ended a car stopped at a red light.

Javis Trice Adams, 33, and his 10-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr., died at the scene. Adams' 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyzed from the neck down, and died shortly after Lee was convicted.

At his 2007 trial, Lee testified he was certain he tried to brake. But a city mechanic testified the brakes worked fine, and Carruthers, the prosecutor, argued Lee must have hit the gas by mistake. Lee's attorney at trial, Tracy Eichorn-Hicks, seemed to concede as much, arguing Lee's actions fell short of gross negligence.

Lee's Camry wasn't among those subject to Toyota's recent safety recalls, but Toyota did recall some 1996 Camrys for defective cruise controls that could cause sudden acceleration.

Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney, is preparing a lawsuit by the victims in the Lee crash. Hilliard said other federal complaints suggest a defect more widespread than recalled cruise controls — something with engine control modules that could extend to other Toyota makes and model years.

Hilliard said he's aware of about 16 potential class-action cases filed around the country on the basis of the automaker's recent revelations. Attorneys for the victims' family declined to make them available, but Hilliard said they feel differently about Lee now. "They seem to have made peace with the fact that he's telling the truth," Hilliard said.

Lee said he's grateful.

"I feel like them believing in me is a gift that I've received from God," he said.

Schafer said he'll file paperwork soon asking to reexamine the wrecked Camry, which still sits at the St. Paul police impoundment lot. All sides expect that request to be granted. Then Schafer would have to persuade the judge that new evidence merits a new trial.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35589163/ns/business-autos/

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Highway Institute Loves the Nissan Frontier

2010-02-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

First time Institute rates small pickups for rollover protection;
only one model rates good in test that assures strength of roof
ARLINGTON, VA — The Nissan Frontier has the strongest roof and the Chevrolet Colorado the weakest among 5 small pickup trucks, all 2010 models, that recently were tested for rollover protection by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Frontier, also sold as the Suzuki Equator, is the only pickup in the group to earn the highest rating of good. The Ford Ranger is rated acceptable while the Dodge Dakota, Toyota Tacoma, and Colorado (also sold as the GMC Canyon) earn the second lowest rating of marginal.
The rating system is based on Institute research showing that occupants in rollover crashes benefit from stronger roofs. Vehicles rated good must have roofs that are more than twice as strong as the minimum required under the current federal safety standard. The ratings, products of the Institute's new roof strength testing program, add to consumer information tests that rate vehicles' front, side, and rear crashworthiness. The rollover test is designed to help consumers pick vehicles that will protect them the best in one of the most serious kinds of crashes..
"As a group, small pickups aren't performing as well as small cars or small SUVs in all of the Institute's safety tests. None of the ones we tested is a top-notch performer across the board. In fact, no small pickup earns our TOP SAFETY PICK award," says Institute senior vice president David Zuby. The Frontier came close to winning the 2010 award, but it's rated acceptable instead of good for protection against neck injury in rear crashes. To earn TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle has to earn good ratings for protection in front, side, rear, and rollover crashes. It also has to have electronic stability control.
Nearly 10,000 people a year are killed in rollovers. When vehicles roll, their roofs hit the ground, deform, and crush. Stronger roofs crush less, reducing the risk of injury from contact with the roof itself. Stronger roofs also can prevent people, especially those who aren't using safety belts, from being ejected through windows, windshields, or doors that have broken or opened because the roof deformed. Roofs that don't collapse help keep people inside vehicles when they roll.
Rollovers are much more common for SUVs and pickup trucks than for cars. In 2008 almost half (47 percent) of all pickup occupants killed in crashes were in trucks that rolled over. This compares with 58 percent of deaths in SUVs and 25 percent in cars.
The best occupant protection is to keep vehicles from rolling in the first place. Electronic stability control is significantly reducing rollovers, especially fatal single-vehicle ones. When vehicles roll, side curtain airbags help protect people. Safety belt use is essential.
Roof strength-to-weight ratio within 5 inches of crush

In the Institute's roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against 1 corner of a roof at a constant speed. To earn a good rating, a roof must withstand a force of 4 times the vehicle's weight before reaching 5 inches of crush. For an acceptable rating, the minimum strength-to-weight ratio required is 3.25. A marginal rating value is 2.5, and anything lower than that is poor. The Frontier withstood a force of just over 4 times its weight. This compares with 2.9 times weight for the Colorado. A strength-to-weight ratio of 4 reflects an estimated 50 percent reduction in serious or fatal injury risk in single-vehicle rollover crashes, compared with the current federal standard of 1.5.
In April 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ended numerous delays by unveiling a new rule that raises the federal roof strength requirement, currently a strength-to-weight ratio of 1.5, to 3 for vehicles with weight ratings up to 6,000 pounds. Roofs on vehicles with weight ratings 6,000 to 10,000 pounds will be required to withstand a force equal to 1.5 times their unloaded weight, whereas these vehicles' roofs are not regulated under the old standard. Another requirement is that roofs maintain sufficient headroom during testing. For the first time, the government will require the same performance on both sides of a roof when tested sequentially. Phase-in begins in September 2012, and all vehicles must comply by September 2016.
"The long phase-in of the new standard means roofs won't have to get stronger right away," Zuby points out, "so we plan to continue rating vehicle roof strength for the foreseeable future. We want to reward manufacturers who are ahead of their competition for protecting people in rollovers."
In addition to the new roof strength ratings, the Institute conducted side tests of small pickup truck models. Earning good ratings are the Frontier, with standard front and rear head curtain airbags plus front torso airbags. Also earning good ratings are the Ranger, with standard front-seat mounted combination head and torso airbags, and the Tacoma, which the Institute tested in 2008.
In contrast, the Colorado is rated poor for occupant protection in side crashes. It's equipped with standard curtain side airbags but lacks additional airbags designed to protect a driver's torso. The Colorado's poor structure, along with poor protection for the driver dummy's chest and pelvis, contributed to its poor rating overall. Plus the dummy's head came close to moving around the curtain airbag during the impact by the intruding barrier.
"A slightly different crash configuration could have resulted in a direct hit from the barrier on the dummy's head," Zuby explains.
The test of the Dakota produced a different problem. Its optional curtain side airbags failed to deploy. This is the first time this has happened in an Institute side test. Chrysler engineers say they've identified a problem with the computer program algorithm that calculates when to fire the airbags and are working on a remedy. When the computer program is fixed, the Institute will conduct another test of the Dakota and publish the results.
Zuby notes that "the Dakota is the only 2010 small pickup the Institute tested that has optional rather than standard side airbags. Most of the auto industry pledged to get standard side airbags in every new passenger vehicle by now."
Chrysler was among 15 manufacturers who got together in 2003 and agreed on the first set of rules designed to reduce the risks for people in front and side crashes involving larger and heavier SUVs and pickup trucks. Although the compatibility agreement specified performance criteria and not features, the idea was to make safety improvements like installing side airbags in all passenger vehicles more quickly than would have been the case with a government regulation.
"Chrysler is the only manufacturer we know of that isn't living up to the spirit of the 2003 agreement," Zuby says.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of another pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on 2 instrumented SID-IIs dummies representing 5th percentile women, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.

Nissan = Official Vehicle of Team RadioShack

2010-01-21T16:39:00.001-05:00

Check out this article posted on nissannews.com:

01.06.2010 , FRANKLIN, Tenn.
Nissan Announced as the Official Vehicle of Team RadioShack – Lance Armstrong’s New Professional Cycling Team

Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today announced an agreement with Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France and founder of the LIVESTRONG Charitable Foundation, to sponsor his new Team RadioShack pro cycling team. The multi-year partnership includes the use of a variety of Nissan products as the official vehicle of the team.

Team RadioShack consists of 25 professional riders from around the world, including Armstrong – many of them considered among the strongest competitors in cycling today. The team will compete in an extensive schedule of professional cycling races worldwide in 2010, including the Tour de France and the Tour of California.

“There’s a powerful alignment between cycling enthusiasts’ interests and Nissan’s in terms of performance, durability and sustainability – whether their favorite ride has two wheels or four,” said Christian Meunier, vice president, Nissan Marketing, NNA. “It is a solid platform to launch many exciting products here in the United States and around the globe.”

Nissan, which already enjoys a strong presence in the health, wellness and personal fitness arena with its Sports Illustrated College Football and Rodale Fitness partnerships, also plans to actively support Team RadioShack at the Tour of California, Tour of Missouri, Tour de France and other major Pro Cycling events around the globe. The company views the partnership as a way to connect with the more than 21 million cyclists in the United States and the 40 million cycling fans that attended live events around the world in 2009.

"We're very excited to have Nissan join as a partner of Team RadioShack. Team vehicles and new technologies play a key role in the success of any professional cycling team and we look forward to using Nissan products as we race around the world,” said Armstrong.

“We know that Nissan has some cutting-edge product launches on the horizon and we look forward to an excellent and winning partnership with our new Nissan friends for many years to come," he continued.

“The connection between health, wellness and sustainable mobility, such as Nissan supports with the upcoming Nissan LEAF™ electric vehicle and our Green Program 2010, is a natural. Nissan has been a proud supporter of the LIVESTRONG Challenge and looks forward to working together with the LIVESTRONG Foundation and their fight against cancer,” added Meunier.

About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com.

About Capital Sports & Entertainment
Based in Austin, Texas, Capital Sports & Entertainment (CSE) builds and manages experiences, personalities, businesses and brands. CSE has launched successful enterprises such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Lollapalooza, the Discovery Channel Pro-Cycling Team, C3 Presents, and C3 Management. CSE ran and managed the Discovery Channel Pro-Cycling Team from 2004-2007 after taking over as manager of the United States Pro-Cycling Team. CSE created media and marketing partnerships that produced integrated programming on OLN/Versus, ESPN and Discovery. CSE will be the General Manager for Team RadioShack, which will compete as a Pro-Tour team. Additionally, CSE manages the Trek-LIVESTRONG U23 Team, a joint project between Lance Armstrong and Trek Bicycle to help develop the next generation of great American cyclists. For more information about CSE or its clients and properties, visit www.planetcse.com.

# # #

Jay Leno hosts the New Chevy Volt

2009-12-31T15:29:00.002-05:00

Jay Leno Welcomes the 2011 Chevrolet Volt to His Garage

Published Dec 29, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Jay Leno is well known as a big name in automotive enthusiast circles — and as an excellent source for publicity — so it was inevitable that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt would make its way into his garage. Chief engineer Andrew Farah took the Volt to Leno's Big Dog Garage this week as part of a California goodwill tour for the upcoming EV.

"I guess it's Jay Leno's Green Garage this time," Leno says in the introduction to a 13-minute video on his Web site. "You must be proud of this thing," he says to Farah while standing in front of the Volt.

"When you're driving on gas, does it ever make more electricity than it needs?" Leno asks. Farah assures him that the Volt will make only as much electricity as it can use. More in character for the TV host, Leno points out the Volt's similarity to a 1916 Owens Magnetic gas/electric, explaining that the Owens runs an electric dynamo and has no transmission, clutch or shifting. "Electric cars are nothing new," he tells Farah in the video.

"You could conceivably get hundreds of miles per gallon if you live 30 miles away from work," Leno says as he looks under the hood, in a quote that will surely be music to GM's ears.

Inside Line says: Leno could be a taste maker for GM's Great Electric Hope. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent

Check out edmunds review of the new 2011 Nissan LEAF

2009-12-31T14:19:00.002-05:00

Revealed: 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric Car

Published Aug 1, 2009

Poor So-So Pretty Good Good Excellent 2 Ratings YOKOHAMA, Japan — In what the automaker hopes is a prophetic pairing, Nissan Motor Co. unveiled its new electric car today as part of the grand opening ceremonies for its new, high-tech headquarters building in Japan's semi-official zero-emissions city.

"Just as leaves purify the air in nature, so Nissan Leaf purifies mobility by taking emissions out of the driving experience," the company said.

The five-seat, electric-blue Leaf hatchback is to be launched in select U.S. and Japanese markets next year to begin what Nissan hopes will become an era of global leadership for the company in a growing EV market.

Leadership shouldn't be evasive if the Leaf lives up to its performance billing. A top speed of 90 mph, a range of 100 miles per charge with a 30-minute recharge where quick-charging stations are available (6 hours with a 220-volt current) and seat cushion-compressing acceleration that will launch it from zero to 30 mph faster than an Infiniti G37, thanks to 207 pound-feet of torque from its 80 kilowatt (107 horsepower) electric motor are all part of the package.

To the degree that price matters, Nissan's also got a big edge in the EV world. Pricing hasn't been announced, but the company insists the Leaf will be "affordable" with pricing equivalent to a well-equipped C-class (compact) car.

That's a European compact, though, and they're a lot better equipped, and more costly, than compacts in the U.S. so figure $28,000 to as much as $35,000 (the range for Nissan partner Renault's Megane hatchback) — not super cheap, but a bit less than the five-place Chevy Volt.

And that's before any government incentives — which could knock a substantial amount from the car's price in Japan and would be at least $7,500 in the U.S. as long as funding continues for the federal clean car credit program.

Nissan officials say pricing was held down in part by developing the entire powertrain, including the laminated lithium-manganese battery pack — arguably the most expensive single component on the car at around $10,000 — in-house with an eye toward affordability.

But the real trick is that the batteries won't be part of the selling price: Nissan's global approach will be to sell the car, but lease the battery pack.

The argument for leasing is that if you buy a gasoline car, the gasoline isn't part of the deal, and the battery pack in an EV (plus the electricity that it stores) can be likened to the gas needed to make a conventional car go.

The approach in the U.S, where consumers might be leery of buying a car, but having to lease an essential part of its powertrain, may be to simply lease the entire package, said Andy Palmer, Nissan's senior vice president and head of product planning.

Decisions on the sales or leasing method, as well as on U.S. pricing, will be made closer to the Leaf's late-2010 launch, Palmer said.

The event will make Nissan the first major automaker in modern times to put a full-service battery-electric car into dealerships for retail sales.

To help do away with charging anxiety, Nissan has equipped the Leaf with a communications system that enables drivers to communicate in real time with a special information center to find out where the closest chargers are, which ones are open and operating, and whether they have fast or slow chargers.

The system also highlights in real time on the Leaf's standard navigation system screens the one-way and round-trip travel ranges the car can achieve before needing a battery charge, and sends signals to a driver's cell phone or PDA when a car plugged in at a home or public charger is topped up and ready to go.

The Leaf's target launch date will beat General Motors' Volt plug-in hybrid, and while Japan's Mitsubishi and Subaru both launched EVs for sale to fleets in Japan last month, the cars are smaller, lower-speed, "city cars" with far less range than the 100 miles-per-charge Nissan claims for the Leaf.

The concept unveiled today is pretty much what the production car will look like next year, sans the exotic paint and high-end interior appointments unique to concept and show cars.

Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's global design chief, told us in an interview after a private preview showing of the pre-production concept, that the Leaf, while all-Nissan in concept and technology, borrows a smidgen of design language from partner Renault's popular Megane compact, most notably in the notched hatch.

The elongated but curiously bulbous headlamp assembly (designed for looks and airflow, said Shiro-san) extremely short nose (no engine to hide) and sharply delineated flanks and wheel cutouts are all Nissan, showing a little bit of the styling that went into the Murano crossover utility vehicle — no shocker when you learn that the Leaf's chief designer also headed the Murano design team, according to Nakamura.

Inside Line says: Nissan trails the field in hybrids, but could shock the industry with its nifty new EV. — John O'Dell, Senior Editor, Edmunds' GreenCarAdvisor.com

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2009-12-29T12:46:00.002-05:00

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