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Renault-Nissan alliance to start autonomous EV testing

The Renault-Nissan alliance is joining the self-driving electric-vehicle party. The French-Japanese automaking collaboration, which has been selling electric vehicles to the masses since introducing the Nissan Leaf in 2010, said Monday that it will work with transportation-technology consultant Transdev on developing a fleet of self-driving EVs for testing purposes. The model of choice, though, won't be the Leaf, but instead will be the Renault Zoe. Details aren't abundant, but the group does say it will perform the field testing in the Paris area. Transdev's pedigree includes operating what it says is the world's first commercial driverless service at France's EDF campus. The company, which is majority-owned by Caisse des Depots, is no small potatoes, generating about $7 billion in revenue in 2015. Take a look at the alliance's statement here. The alliance has already been working with Microsoft on driving-technology advancements and has teamed up with Japan-based DeNA to hatch a driverless-vehicle initiative for commercial services. And in January, Nissan said its ProPilot features, which include increased self-driving capabilities, would be added to its Leaf EV "in the near future." Of course, other automakers have already jumped into the self-driving EV game. California-based EV maker Tesla has long been pushing its vehicle technology toward autonomy, and General Motors said in December that it would start field testing driverless Chevrolet Bolt EVs sometime this year. In the meantime, the Alliance is gearing up a changeover in leadership, as Carlos Ghosn said last week that he was stepping down as Nissan's CEO on April 1. Ghosn, long a champion of electric-vehicle technology, will be succeeded by Nissan co-CEO Hiroto Saikawa. Related Video: Featured Gallery Renault Zoe ZE 40 Yttrium Grey View 27 Photos News Source: Renault-Nissan Alliance Green Nissan Renault Autonomous Vehicles Electric alliance zoe

Nissan to build no more than 17 examples of Juke-R 2.0

Nissan is planning to put the new Juke-R 2.0 into low-volume production, a report says. It was revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed about a month ago, and it packs greasy bits from a Nissan GT-R into the modified chassis and bodywork of a Juke crossover. Version 2.0 packs 600 horsepower, a leap from the 545 hp produced by the first rendition. Production plans were not clear at Goodwood, but the Italian website OmniAuto.it says that Nismo will produce as many as 17 examples of the Juke-R 2.0. We say "as many as" because production will likely depend on demand, and as small as that number may be, the price of entry is sure to be steep. The previous version was limited to 21 examples, each priced at over $650,000. At the time that we drove it more than two years ago, Nissan had only made (and found homes for) four examples. Of course the Juke-R isn't the only performance crossover out there. Following Porsche's lead, Lamborghini, Maserati, Lotus, and Aston Martin (to name just a few) are all gearing up to launch their own, while the likes of Mercedes-AMG, BMW M, Audi Quattro, and Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division continue to churn out faster and more powerful sport utes. The Juke-R may be the most bonkers to date, but it'll soon find itself in good (and very fast) company. Related Video: Featured Gallery Nissan Juke-R 2.0 View 22 Photos News Source: OmniAuto.itImage Credit: Nissan Nissan Crossover Performance Supercars nissan juke-r

Five automakers now being investigated by NHTSA for airbag woes

It appears that Toyota's renotification to owners of recalled vehicles from last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what could potentially be a much larger industry-wide recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation investigation into roughly 1.1 million vehicles from Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and parts supplier Takata regarding faulty airbag inflators in several models.
NHTSA has received six reports - three directly, two from Takata and one from Toyota - of vehicles with ruptured airbag inflators from 2002-2006, which resulted in three injuries. So far, all six incidents have occurred in high humidity areas like Florida and Puerto Rico. According to Toyota's latest recall announcement, the inflators may have an improper propellant that could cause it to rupture in a crash and the bag to deploy abnormally.
This new investigation follows a previous recall from April 2013 of about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the airbag inflators from Takata. As Autoblog reported, Toyota jumpstarted the new situation when it found that the original list of serial numbers for the faulty part was incomplete and discovered more cars in need of replacement. Honda and Nissan told us that they were investigating whether further models would need called in again as well. Mazda told Autoblog: "Regarding the current Takata situation, we're working closely with NHTSA and investigating the situation, but nothing else to report at this time." Chrysler Group responded to us with the statement: "Chrysler Group engineers are conducting the appropriate analysis. The Company will cooperate fully with the National Highway Traffic Administration."