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Evatran, Bosch will sell wireless home charger for as low as $1,998*

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, the big news for plug in vehicles is that they can now start to ditch the plug. As expected, the system costs around $3,000 and is available for both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. For the first 250 customers, though, Evatran is offering $1,000 off the standard price, a 30 percent discount. Deliveries start next month and Evatran says it expects the discounted units to all be snatched up in the first half of the year. The wireless charger charges as quickly as conventional corded systems. Called the Plugless Wireless EV charger, the 240-volt station will be installed by Bosch and needs a specific adapter to be used with the Volt or the Leaf (the Leaf version costs $100 more). So, any two-EV families out there will need to pony up double if there's a Chevy and a Nissan in the garage. Of course, since the Plugless system only works with older Leafs (2010-2012 model years - but with any Volt), any late adopters will not be able to take advantage of the new technology, for now. Evatran says the wireless charger "charges the Volt and Leaf as quickly as conventional corded systems and all vehicle features, such as charge-timers and phone applications, can be used seamlessly with the Plugless system." After the first 250 units, standard prices for the wireless chargers take effect again: $2,998 (Volt) and $3,098 (Leaf). Evatran says it will announce wireless chargers for additional vehicles and model years later this year. Evatran and Bosch offer Promotional Pricing as low as $1,998 to first 250 PLUGLESS™ Wireless EV Charging Customers LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Evatran Group, Inc. ("Evatran"), in partnership with Bosch Automotive Service Solutions, announced today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show that it is offering reduced promotional pricing to the first 250 customers who opt to Go PLUGLESS with their electric vehicle ("EV") experience. The PLUGLESS system offers a convenient, wireless charging alternative to the repetitive process of unplugging and plugging-in electric vehicles. The reduced pricing includes all charging hardware and is as much as a 30% discount off the system's standard MSRP. The discount is available only to the first 250 customers. Initial shipments of the PLUGLESS system, the first wireless EV charging product in the world available to individual EV drivers, will begin in February 2014.

Nissan reviving Pulsar name for Euro market

The Nissan Pulsar doesn't have what we'd consider a rich history in the US, other than on some models decades ago. However, the nameplate has been part of the Nissan lineup globally since 1978 and has proven popular in Asia and Australia. Now, the brand is teasing a five-door hatch to revive the name and hit European showrooms this fall.
The new Pulsar will be built at the company's recently renovated factory in Barcelona, Spain. It's not clear from the teaser whether this is the same model that is already sold in other parts of the world or a brand new vehicle. Although, Nissan says in the announcement that the car "has been designed to meet the specific demands of European car buyers."
With competitors like the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus, the European five-door hatch market is seriously competitive. It will be interesting to see if Nissan will have something special to bring to the table. Scroll down to read Nissan's full teaser about its latest hatchback in Europe.

New allegations against Ghosn concern payments to Saudi businessman

BEIJING – Fresh misconduct allegations brought by Tokyo prosecutors against ousted Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn center on the use of company funds to pay a Saudi businessman who is believed to have helped him out of financial difficulties, two company sources with knowledge of the matter said. Prosecutors arrested Ghosn for a third time on Friday, accusing him of aggravated breach of trust in transferring personal investment losses to the automaker. The prosecutors' statement said they believe that around October 2008, Ghosn was trying to deal with losses on paper of 1.85 billion yen ($16.6 million) incurred on a swap contract he had with a bank which it did not name. A person helped arrange a letter of credit for Ghosn and a company run by the person later received $14.7 million in Nissan funds in four installments between 2009 and 2012, the statement said, adding that the payments were made in Ghosn's and the person's interests. "By doing so, (Ghosn) behaved in a way that breached trust, and inflicted damage on the property of Nissan," the statement said. The statement also said Ghosn had earlier sought to have Nissan shoulder the appraisal losses directly. According to the Nissan sources who have knowledge of the company's probe into its former chief, the person who helped Ghosn is Khaled Al-Juffali, vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia's largest conglomerates, E. A. Juffali and Brothers, and a member of the board at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. He is also majority owner of a company called Al-Dahana which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf with the other half held by a wholly owned unit of Nissan Motor. Sheikh Khaled Juffali has no comment on this subject, according to an emailed statement from E. A. Juffali and Brothers. Ghosn's Tokyo-based lawyer, Motonari Otsuru, was unavailable for comment on this article, according to a person who answered the phone at his law office. A representative for the Ghosn family declined to comment. Other media have said Ghosn has through a lawyer denied that he shifted losses to Nissan and has told investigators that the four payments were for legitimate business purposes, including a reward for handling problems at Nissan dealers in Saudi Arabia. Tokyo prosecutors declined to comment. Asked about Ghosn's reported comments, a Nissan spokesman said: "We cannot comment on matters related to Ghosn's arrest for breach of trust.