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Nissan Shows Self-Cleaning Car Coated In Nano Paint

Washing the car is an activity like mowing the lawn that some people love and others find to be an absolute chore. For the latter group, Nissan may have an answer. Nissan is testing a nano-paint coating that could make the car wash a very infrequent place to visit. Shown on a European Note hatchback, the key is a special layer of super- hydrophobic and oleophobic material called Ultra-Ever Dry that is sprayed over the paint. It creates a protective layer between the body and environment, and it means that when dirt or water come into contact with the car, the gunk just sheets away. Nissan admits that the coating is still early in testing. The key will be if the stuff can actually last for the long term, and the company will be analyzing it over the coming months to see how it will react in different conditions. At the moment, the automaker has no plans to offer Ultra-Ever Dry as a standard feature, but it may make it available as an aftermarket addition in the future. This article originally appeared on Autoblog.com Related Gallery Clean Diesels Coming To The US Weird Car News Nissan Maintenance car cleaning

Next Nissan Rogue flaunts its new look

Remember last April, when Nissan told us it would be launching five new models over the course of 15 months? Well, we've seen the Altima, Pathfinder, Sentra and Versa Note, so that magical fifth model has to be the new Rogue, which our spy photographers recently caught testing. Despite looking like a hodge-podge of black duct tape and garbage bags, we can clearly see that the new Rogue takes a lot of its styling cues from the Hi-Cross concept that Nissan showed at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. And that's fine - we found that CUV concept to be a decidedly handsome thing, and certainly more attractive than the weird little Rogue that currently roams the streets.
Details surrounding the next Rogue are still very unclear, though our spies suggest that it could be powered by a new 1.2-liter supercharged four-cylinder engine, good for something like 113 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque. We'll see about that, since those numbers represent a drastic drop in power versus the current Rogue - to the tune of 57 hp and 35 lb-ft. A diesel engine for other markets is expected to be on offer, and a plug-in hybrid version is also rumored to be in the works, though that won't show up at the vehicle's initial launch.
If Nissan sticks to its plan of showing these five new models in the course of 15 months, that means we should see the Rogue in July. Of course, since things don't always go as planned, it could be many more months before all that camouflage is taken away.

Nissan shows off Le Mans Prototype, says it's world's fastest electric racer [w/video]

Nissan has announced plans and details around its upcoming all-electric racing car, the ZEOD RC. The Zero Emission On Demand Racing car is said to be capable of a top speed in excess of 300 kilometers per hour (186.4 miles per hour), is shaped a bit like the closed-cockpit version of the DeltaWing (albeit, to our eyes, better looking) and will make its debut in 2014 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This weekend, visitors to the race will have the opportunity to view the prototype near the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Nissan's ZEOD RC has been invited by Le Mans organizers to compete as the Garage 56 entry in next year's race; that's essentially a spot on the grid held for vehicles with new and/or cutting edge technology.
Short of announcing a partnership with Michelin to develop tires for the EV racecar, however, Nissan is mum on any kind of battery or motor specification for the ZEOD. The press release (below) offers a sense that the Nissan and Nismo teams have still got a lot of work to do before the 2014 race. Ben Bowlby, designer of the ZEOD RC, says "We have many options to consider and test. The test program is part of a longer term goal of developing a system and a set of rules for this type of technology in partnership with the ACO that would be best suited to competing at the highest level of this sport."