2014 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner on 2040-cars

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder: February 2013

I took the keys to our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder from Editor-in-Chief Neff (who left me with an empty gas tank, for the record) directly following the Detroit Auto Show. That means that, by the time you all read this, I'll have been in possession of the Pathfinder for more time, and driven it more miles than any Autoblogger so far. I'd like to think that I've made good use of it... with one small exception.
For those of you that live outside of the Snow Belt and who may routinely ignore the Weather Channel out of cocky certainty - I'm looking at you, American Southwest - there's been some real weather in our part of the world this winter. A year ago, I'd basically packed up my shovel and my driveway salt by Valentine's Day; while the last quarter of 2012 and beginning of 2013 have seen back-wrenching piles of snow fall on and around my Michigan home. Good times, in other words, to test the all-weather capabilities of our all-wheel-drive Pathfinder.

Interest in an Infiniti EV is muted, to say the least

More than a quarter-million people have bought an electric vehicle from the Renault-Nissan Alliance. When it comes to Nissan's Infiniti luxury nameplate, though, there's not a lot of confidence. The Alliance doesn't have much hope that the badge will add to that total anytime soon. So says Emirates 24/7 in its report that Infiniti is planning on opening two showrooms in Abu Dhabi. Models such as the QX80 SUV, the Q70 sedan, and the Q50 will be shown off to those looking to live the high life, Infiniti style. But company executives told the publication that no battery-electric Infiniti models would be in the works until at least the end of the decade? The reason? Lack of demand. It's a far cry from three years ago, when a concept version of the Infiniti LE electric vehicle was shown off at the New York Auto Show. The model boasted 134 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque as well as wireless-charging capabilities. It was about the size of the Infiniti G sedan. At the time, the automaker's executives were estimating that car would hit the market by 2014. Those plans didn't come to fruition, obviously. As for the Alliance, Renault and Nissan celebrated the sale of their 250,000th electric vehicle this past summer. And while the lion's share of those were in the form of the Nissan Leaf, the 250,000th vehicle was actually a Renault Zoe that was bought by a computer engineer in Bordeaux, France. That's a long way from the UAE, and a long way from an Infiniti EV.

Tesla poaches Renault-Nissan communications boss Sproule

Need another sign that Tesla is growing into a force to be reckoned with? Bloomberg reports it has just snagged high-profile communications boss Simon Sproule from Renault-Nissan to become the EV maker's vice president of communications and marketing.
Sproule is an industry veteran, having spent 20 years at Nissan (where he grew to become CEO Carlos Ghosn's right-hand man). In addition, he logged stints at Ford, Jaguar (when it was still a Blue Oval-owned brand) and Microsoft. Despite all that experience, Sproule is still young, at just 45 years of age, as Bloomberg points out, yet he's held positions in the US, Japan and France over the years.
This is all good news for Tesla, which is in need of a strong spokesman outside of company CEO Elon Musk. It's been battling with the state of New Jersey and its governor, Chris Christie, over direct sales in the Garden State.