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Teen attempts car jump, hits windshield and lands on his feet

I've been compelled to do many things in or around a car, but jumping over one has never quite made the cut. That may be because I have all of the vertical lift of a manatee, but I digress. One enterprising young soul recently looked at a friend's Nissan Sentra and thought, "You know, I can totally leap right over that roof line."
By using what can only be described as Herculean feats of persuasion, he talked one young female friend into driving said Nissan straight for him at around 40 miles per hour while another stood by to film the lunacy. The plan went swimmingly right up until our would be compact-vaulter caught his foot on the hood and bounced into the windshield. Whoops.
But the story doesn't end with a trip to the emergency room. Our hero spun mid-air and actually managed to get his feet under him before coming back to Earth. Impressive. You can watch the hilarity for yourself below, but please, don't even think about trying this yourself.

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault-Nissan at COP21, fast charging viability

Nissan and Renault's combined fleet of 200 EVs drove over 175,000 kilometers (about 108,700 miles) during the COP21 environmental summit in Paris. The largest fleet of EVs for any international conference served as shuttles for attendees, saving almost 182 barrels of oil and 18 tons of CO2 emissions. In addition to providing the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, and Renault Zoe EV shuttles, the Renault-Nissan Alliance also set up a network of 90 chargers to support the fleet. 13 of the 27 quick and semi-quick chargers will remain in place for public use. Read more in the press release below.Siemens names Ann Arbor, Michigan for its first Center of Excellence for Intelligent Traffic Technology. The company will implement new and upgrade existing traffic technologies in the city, including cloud-based traffic management software, local controller software and an adaptive traffic control system designed to improve traffic flow and safety. In a college town with highly varying numbers of students and visitors throughout the year, "the need to move traffic in and out of the city efficiently is crucial not only for economic and environmental impacts, but for quality of life for Ann Arbor residents," says Marcus Welz, president of Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems. Many Ann Arborites (your author included) would surely agree. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the release from Siemens.A study in Ireland found that public fast charging could soon become commercially viable. The researchers found parking spots to be the most popular public charging locations, and that fast chargers saw the most frequent use, suggesting commercial viability for the infrastructure in the short- to medium-term. The study also found that most drivers prefer to charge at home, and do so during peak hours. Incentivization could be necessary to break people from this habit. Read more at Green Car Congress.

Japan sends official to Lebanon over fugitive Carlos Ghosn

BEIRUT — Japan's deputy justice minister met top officials in Lebanon on Monday over the case of NissanÂ’s fugitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, who fled to his home country late last year while on bail in Japan and awaiting trial. Ghosn was arrested in late 2018 and is facing charges of under-reporting income and breach of trust. He says he is innocent. He led Nissan for nearly 20 years. State Minister of Justice Hiroyuki Yoshiie (pictured above with Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm) met President Michel Aoun as well as the Lebanese minister of foreign affairs. Yoshiie did not speak to reporters after the meetings and is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day. Aoun's office said in a tweet after the meeting that they discussed mutual relations and ways of developing them "in addition to matters that are of interest for both countries." The tweet did not mention Ghosn, who made his first public appearance in Lebanon in early January saying he fled a “nightmare” that would not end and vowed to defend his name wherever he can get a fair trial. On Friday, Japan's Justice Minister Masako Mori said she was dispatching the official to Beirut to explain the Japanese justice system and improve cooperation. She said Japan hoped Lebanon would gain “a proper understanding of the Japanese criminal justice system.” Japan and Lebanon do not have an extradition treaty, and it's unlikely Lebanon would agree to send Ghosn, considered a Lebanese national hero, back to Japan to face trial. Mori acknowledged that there were “various environments” and laws that underpin each country's stance. Nissan, maker of the Leaf electric car and Z sports car, said in a statement regarding the justice officialÂ’s trip that it hoped Ghosn would return to Japan to stand trial, “so that all the facts can be properly established under JapanÂ’s judicial system.” Having spent months in detention and struggling to gain his release on bail under stringent conditions, Ghosn said he fled in the belief he could not get a fair trial in Japan. Japan has requested GhosnÂ’s return through Interpol and issued an arrest warrant after his escape. Lebanese prosecutors issued a travel ban for Ghosn in January and asked him to hand in his French passport following the Interpol-issued notice against him. NissanÂ’s sales have plunged recently, and it sank into losses for the last fiscal quarter. The brand is widely considered to have been tarnished by the controversy around Ghosn.