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North Carolina now charging $100-per-year EV road-use fee

Tobacco Road just got a little more expensive for drivers of electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. This year, North Carolina started instituting an annual $100 road-use fee for electric-vehicle drivers in order to close at least a little of the budgetary shortfall for road maintenance in the Tar Heel State, the News Observer reports. North Carolina legislators failed to green-light a hybrid-vehicle fee of $50 a year, which may have made a little more of a dent in the state's road funding. As it is, about 1,600 EVs are registered in North Carolina, meaning that the state will collect about $160,000 in such fees this year. And while some in the state are concerned that the fee could hurt EV adoption, others say it's fair because of the $7,500 in federal tax credits EV buyers get. Oh, and the fact that EV drivers don't pay gasoline taxes. Either way, the fees are a proverbial drop in the bucket, as North Carolina's transportation shortfall is estimated to average about $2 billion a year during the next three decades or so. Other states are starting to charge EV drivers a road-use fee as well. Last February, Washington State began instituting its own electric-vehicle fee of $100 per annum, and a number of other states are considering similar policies. News Source: News Observer via EV WorldImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Sebastian Blanco/AOL Government/Legal Green Nissan Electric north carolina

Kayaba, Sumitomo to pay millions for price-fixing in US

Kayaba Industry Co, which does business in the US as suspension parts maker KYB, and Sumitomo Electric Industries are facing payments in the millions to settle price-fixing cases about the components that they make. As part of the Department of Justice's ongoing crackdown of price fixing in the auto industry, KYB agreed to pay $62 million and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to set the cost of shock absorbers from the mid '90s through 2012. The company allegedly worked with co-conspirators to keep the cost of the parts high, and those components then made it into vehicles from Honda, Kawasaki, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota. "Any collusive agreement among competitors to restrict price competition undercuts our free enterprise system and violates the law," said Carter M. Stewart, US Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio, in the DoJ's announcement. Over the past few years, the DoJ has brought cases against 37 parts suppliers and 55 executives, leading to over $2.6 billion in fines. The investigations haven't always been so successful – some of the Japanese execs fled from the US to avoid prosecution. Critics allege that price fixing is simply how business is done. According to Automotive News, Sumitomo Electric Industries is also facing a $50 million settlement in a civil lawsuit that's related to price fixing of parts like wiring harnesses and heater control panels. The plaintiffs include owners and dealers that purchased vehicles with these parts. The company asserts that the violations are from before 2010, and it now has different process in place to avoid further violations. KYB Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $62 Million Criminal Fine for Fixing Price of Shock Absorbers Kayaba Industry Co. Ltd., dba KYB Corporation (KYB) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $62 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price of shock absorbers installed in cars and motorcycles sold to U.S. consumers. According to charges filed today, KYB conspired from the mid-1990s until 2012 to fix the prices of shock absorbers sold to Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (manufacturer of Subaru vehicles), Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Company, including their subsidiaries in the United States.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla Model X 0-100 video, Nissan-Renault record EV sales

A video shows that a Tesla Model X can accelerate from 0-100 mph faster than a Model S P85D. DragTimes tested a Founders Edition Tesla Model X P90D with Ludicrous Mode, and found that it did 0-60 mph in 3.178 seconds, which is faster than Tesla's stated 3.2 seconds. The 0-100 mph happened in just 7.98 seconds, which is faster than the 8.3 seconds DragTimes clocked in Model S P85D using Insane Mode. Even more impressive is that the Model X used is a seven-seater with all the boxes ticked, which means that it's lugging a lot of extra weight on the drag strip. DragTimes says it intends to do more tests with other configurations of Tesla models – perhaps we'll get to see how two vehicles with Ludicrous Mode compare. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Nissan and Renault saw record sales of electric vehicles in 2015. The two automakers sold 84,754 battery-powered vehicles last year, a rise of 2.5 percent. Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 sales dropped by almost 10 percent, but Leaf sales are expected to improve with the next generation. The Alliance's EV sales, though, were boosted by Renault selling 45 percent more EVs in 2015. Government incentives in France are partially responsible for Renault's success. Since they began selling them, Renault and Nissan have sold 302,000 EVs worldwide by the end of 2015. Read more at Bloomberg Business. A study finds that E20 provides higher peak load capability and thermal efficiency than gasoline in reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) combustion. The dual-fuel combustion technique uses in-cylinder blending to optimize combustion. The study used E20 ethanol blend or gasoline blended with highway diesel or B20 biodiesel blend and compared the results. In addition to the load capacity and thermal efficiency benefits, E20 also produced fewer hydrocarbon emissions. Read more at Green Car Congress. Related Gallery Renault-Nissan Alliance at COP21 View 22 Photos News Source: Teslarati, YouTube: DragTimes, Bloomberg, Green Car Congress Green Nissan Tesla Renault Alternative Fuels Ethanol Green Automakers Electric Videos recharge wrapup