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Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy teases Bolt driving range, China pursues EV subsidy cheaters

Chevy is teasing the Bolt's driving range, which it is set to reveal on Tuesday. It will certainly be able to travel more than 200 miles between charges, but the second and third digits in that value, as it stands today, are still question marks. On its Facebook page, Chevrolet is asking fans to try to guess the official range. Of course, Tesla fans have already started posting their own snide remarks in the comments. Chevy fans are certainly hoping to see the Bolt's range eclipse that of Tesla's upcoming Model 3, which the California-based automaker puts at 215 miles. See Chevy's post on Facebook to make your own guess, or check back there (or here at AutoblogGreen) for the official number once it is unveiled. Fuel cell company PowerCell Sweden says it has signed an agreement with a Chinese company to make range extenders for commercial trucks. The unnamed Chinese customer has placed an order and signed a memorandum of understanding with PowerCell Sweden, and the partners will develop methanol reformer fuel cell range extenders for electric distribution trucks. "Our unique expertise in fuel cells and reformer technology is receiving an increasing attention worldwide and we are truly pleased to get another Chinese order," says PowerCell Sweden Sales Director Andreas Boden. Read more at Green Car Congress, or from PowerCell. China is accusing major automakers of violating EV subsidy rules. After the country's Ministry of Finance penalized five companies with fines and, in one case, revocation of production license for subsidy cheats, China has since named 20 more potential violators, including Nissan, Hyundai, JAC, and a subsidiary of BYD. Of the first five companies to be punished under the investigation, Suzhou Gemsea Coach Manufacturing is having its production license revoked, while four others, including a subsidiary of Chery, are being fined for about half of the subsidies received. The scandal is bad new for China's subsidy program, which has helped spur sales of plug-in vehicles. Read more from Fortune, or at Hybrid Cars.

Ghosn predicts autonomous cars on the roads by 2018, if laws allow

Things appear to be going well inside Nissan's autonomous vehicle development program. Until now, the automaker believed that self-driving cars would be ready for major markets like the US by 2020. However, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is now speeding up that prediction to 2018 in some places, assuming that local laws are ready to accept the computer-controlled vehicles.
"The problem isn't technology, it's legislation, and the whole question of responsibility that goes with these cars moving around," said Ghosn in a speech in France recorded by Reuters. He predicted that the first sales could begin in France, Japan and the US by 2018 and expand elsewhere in 2020.
The alliance has been among the forefront of automakers working on self-driving cars. Nissan has an autonomous Leaf (pictured above) test car that is licensed to drive on Japanese roads. Renault showed off an version of its Zoe EV earlier this year called the Next Two, that could pilot itself at speeds up to 18 miles per hour, and that the company predicted would be ready by 2020.

Here's how Nissan is quietly getting ready for Leaf 2.0 [UPDATE]

The Nissan Leaf had its best sales month of the year in May, selling 2,104 units. By July that number had come down nearly 50 percent to 1,074 units, and Hybrid Cars reports that Leaf production is on an even steeper decline as the company prepares to roll out the updated 2016 Leaf. In April, Nissan built 2,575 EVs, in May that dropped to 1,569, in June it was just 504. That has pushed the number of Leafs in dealer inventories to a 2015 low of 62 days worth of sales. The trend gave the Chevrolet Volt the upper hand in July sales for the first time in almost two years, even though the Chevy's annual performance is also down for the year. The likely culprits in both cases are customers waiting on the 2016 models to arrive, along with expiring tax credits, a fleet of expired-lease vehicles rolling back onto the market, and declining gas prices. As for the much-rehashed expectations, a Leaf with at least 20 miles more range and perhaps up to 35 miles more range is what customers are anticipating in the fall. Either one of those would be a significant number that justifies not buying right now, and orders for the coming hatchback are being taken in some states. The new Leaf will also get a more conventional style and might also come in a small CUV version. We've asked Nissan for a comment on the declining production numbers, but have not yet heard back. We'll update the post if we get a response. UPDATE: Nissan's Paige Presley told AutoblogGreen, "While I can't comment on future products, I can tell you that we are managing production in line with vehicle demand in the market. With higher sales of Altima and ramping up of Maxima, we have shifted Smyrna's production toward those models. (Additionally, the Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant was on its annual summer shutdown for two weeks in June.) The Nissan LEAF continues to be the global leader in EV sales, and we expect EV sales to continue to rise over time with increasing emission regulations, low operating costs, reduced dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and fulfilling driving experience." Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Nissan Leaf View 12 Photos News Source: Hybrid Cars Green Plants/Manufacturing Nissan Car Buying Hatchback Electric