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Renault's push for more affordable EVs has global implications

The Renault K-ZE is a small electric car that signals a big change in how the French automaker plans on bringing electric vehicles to the masses. Set to go on sale in China beginning in 2019, the K-ZE is meant to have the design of a sport-utility vehicle, but it's on a supermini-sized frame. While it's set to arrive in Europe by 2021, this petite EV could eventually impact electric sales here in the U.S., too. That's because Nissan, maker of the Leaf EV, is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, a three-pronged automaker with a huge global presence. In China, however, the Renault brand has been absent from the country's booming market for electric vehicles — driven in large part by government mandates to combat air pollution by promoting cleaner, zero-emission cars and trucks in cities. Speaking ahead of the K-ZE's debut this week at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and CEO of Group Renault, stated the company "was a pioneer and is the European leader in electric vehicles." To this, he added the K-ZE is meant to have global reach and bring costs down for the consumer. "We are introducing Renault K-ZE, an affordable, urban, SUV-inspired electric model combining the best of Groupe Renault: our leadership in EV, our expertise in affordable vehicles and in forging strong partnerships," said Ghosn. In China, the K-ZE will be manufactured as part of a joint partnership in cooperation with Renault, Nissan and the Chinese automobile firm Dongfeng Motor Group. The range of the K-ZE is expected to be about 150 miles per charge, or roughly the current range in the 2018 Leaf EV. Except the K-ZE is almost three feet shorter than the Leaf, which means Renault is getting a lot more range from a smaller and lighter amount of batteries. While a car this size would be too small for the U.S. market, the technology beneath this teeny hatchback/SUV is certain to make an appearance here in the years ahead. At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Nissan provided a hint of its future European EV plans, courtesy of the IMx Kuro Concept. This edgy-looking electric crossover is a good indication as to the design direction of Nissan's next range of electric crossovers and SUVs over the next 3-5 years — look for the design and tech to similarly migrate stateside.

Nissan Leaf is now the best-selling plug-in vehicle of all time in US

Numbers don't lie. And in some instances, you can see their truth from miles away. As everyone expected, the Nissan Leaf is now officially the best-selling plug-in vehicle in the US. While the two vehicles aren't direct competitors (one's a pure EV and the other is a plug-in hybrid), they certainly dominate the plug-in vehicle sales charts. When we do a little math on those charts, we see that since the two vehicles went on sale at the end of 2010, the Volt has sold 75,231 units while the Leaf is now at 76,407, giving the Leaf a 1,176-vehicle lead. The Leaf trailed the Volt by just two units at the end of February. This is the first time the EV had held the overall lead since the end of February 2012, when it was ahead 10,847 to 9,623 and for a while there at the end of 2013, the Volt was up by around 12,000 units. Times have changed, though, and we don't expect the lead to switch back until the next-gen Volt goes on sale later this year, and even then nothing is certain. The Leaf sold 1,817 copies last month, a drop of 27.5 percent from last year. Year-to-date, the Leaf has sold 4,085 units, down 21.2 percent from the same time period in 2014. There were 639 Volts sold last month, a 56.8-percent sales decrease compared to March 2014. So far this year, Volt sales are down 48 percent. Green Chevrolet Nissan ev sales hybrid sales

2016 Civic, Sonata, Lexus RX, and Altima earn TSP+ from IIHS [w/videos]

The 2016 Honda Civic sedan, Hyundai Sonata, Lexus RX, and Nissan Altima started the year with a bang by earning Top Safety Pick+ honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They join 48 other 2016 model year vehicles that IIHS already tested that received the agency's top safety marks. These four models met the IIHS' latest requirement, scoring the agency's best possible score in all five of its crash tests – front, side, rear, rollover, and the difficult small-overlap – to be eligible for the safety accolade. Hyundai improved the 2016 Sonata's structure after the sedan's production began, so this rating only applied to examples produced after October. To get the TSP+ honor, a vehicle's crash prevention tech needs to earn least two points on the IIHS' scale. The lower Top Safety Pick designation can go to model with a "basic" version of these systems like a front collision warning. The Civic, Sonata, and RX scored the maximum six points to get "superior" scores for their optional crash prevention tech because they avoided collisions at up to 25 miles per hour. The Altima was successful in a 12-mph test, but the system slowed the sedan by 10 mph in the 25-mph test rather than completely stopping it. Therefore, the agency awarded the Nissan five points, which was still a "superior" score. You can watch the small-overlap tests for the Civic, RX, Altima, and Sonata respectively below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Four more vehicles earn the 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award ARLINGTON, Va. — The Honda Civic 4-door, Hyundai Sonata, Lexus RX and Nissan Altima are the latest vehicles to earn the top award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The four vehicles join the 2016 winner's circle just one month after the initial crop of 48 TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners was announced. The requirements for TOP SAFETY PICK+ were tightened for 2016. To qualify, winners must earn good ratings in each of the Institute's five crashworthiness tests and have an available front crash prevention system earning an advanced or superior rating.