Nissan has announced plans to electrify every new model in Japan, China, the US and Europe from the early 2030s. The carmaker also plans to accelerate the introduction of electric and hybrid cars in China under its main brand and its Chinese brand Venucia.
Dongfeng Motor Company Limited (DFL), the Chinese joint venture of Dongfeng and Nissan, plans to introduce at least 17 electrified models of the Dongfeng, Nissan, Venucia and Infiniti brands by 2023.
Nissan wants to become China’s largest electric vehicle maker and plans to spend 7.6 billion euros (9bn dollars) over the next 5 years. More than 20 electrified models have been lined up for the Nissan, Venucia and Dongfeng labels.
Pricing for China-Leaf: Dongfeng Nissan presented the Leaf in its Chinese version under the brand name of Venucia. First called the e30, the electric car now goes under the name Chenfeng but uses the same drive as the Leaf. Starting price (including rebates) is at 267,800 yuan, about 44,000 dollars. carnewschina.com
Zero Motorcycles new Managing Director for Europe will be Umberto Uccelli. He brings 20 years of experience in the motorcycle industry with him and has served the likes of MV Augusta, Ducati and BMW. His first international duty will be at the Intermot 2014 trade show in October. prnewswire.com
All-Finnish electric bus: Linkker Oy from Finland has announced the start of the production of its new electric bus powered by a drivetrain from Visedo. The aluminium frame of the bus, which is based on the eBus project governed by Technical research Center of Finland (VTT), is said to be 3 tons lighter than in standard buses. visedo.com
Bugatti Chiron?Car And Driver reports that the successor of Bugatti’s Veyron might be named after the Bugatti race driver. The hybrid Chiron is said to come with 1,500 hp, indeed worthy of racing. caranddriver.com
Bye-bye Volt: After three years and 35,000 miles, David Noland said goodbye to his Chevy Volt as he also drives a Tesla. With number of Superchargers increasing and the lease ending, there was simply no more need for the range-extended car. Noland still would recommend the Volt to “virtually everyone who asks.” greencarreports.com
Infiniti QX60 hybrid review: Bengt Halvorson took this luxury Nissan for a quick drive and was a bit wary at first on what mpg he would possibly reach. The QX60 hybrid managed to impress him though with 26 mpg but the actual torque felt slightly detached from the gas pedal. thecarconnection.com
Venucia e30 ahead of schedule: The Chinese ‘Leaf’ by Dongfeng-Nissan will go on-sale as Venucia e30 in China this September already and not by the end of 2015 as originally announced. The launch follows EV pilot programs in Guangzhou, Xiangyang and Dalian with 300 EVs driving one million kilometres. green.autoblog.com
VW means business: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has specified what he calls “the biggest initiative for e-mobility in China’s automotive history” (we reported). Until 2018, VW will invest 25 billion dollars and create about 20,000 jobs in China. green.autoblog.com
Hybrid Land Rover for China: Land Rover is presenting its Range Rover Hybrid Long Wheelbase at the Beijing Autoshow. According to the Brits, it will be the first diesel hybrid to be offered in China and can be ordered from May. A 292 hp diesel engine is coupled with a 35 kW electric motor which enables electric driving for one mile at speeds of up to 30 mph. greencarcongress.com, hybridcars.com
Secret shopping for EVs: The American Consumer Reports send 19 secret test shoppers to 85 car dealers in the U.S. to buy an electric car. It turned out that the more a sales person knew about EVs, the more he or she encouraged the secret testers to buy one while poor knowledge even led to outright discouragement. consumerreports.org via transportevolved.com
EV vs hybrid buyers: A study of Experian Automotive showed that buyers of electric cars were younger and wealthier than those buying hybrids in 2013. Furthermore, EV sales grew by 245% compared to 2012 while hybrid sales only increased by 19%. nytimes.com, electriccarsreport.com, thegreencarwebsite.co.uk