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Recharge Wrap-up: No Tesla Gigafactory deal with California, BMW i3 recalled

Before the Nevada announcement was hinted at, a deal to incentivize a Tesla Gigafactory in California fell through. Tesla was looking for around $500 million in incentives, which the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development was willing to offer in tax breaks along with making the permit and environmental processes easier. According to Senator Ted Gaines, there still remained "a gap between what Tesla wanted and what California was willing to offer," the contents of which were undisclosed. California could still be chosen for another of Tesla's battery plants, should those ever materialize. Read more at The Desert Sun. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will consider allowing a bit of compliance flexibility to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations for some automakers. CARB will hold a hearing to discuss giving intermediate volume manufacturers (IVMs) - carmakers that do between 4,501 and 60,000 new vehicle sales in the state - some leniency catching up to the larger manufacturers when it comes to clean vehicle production. The ZEV regulation changes take into account the amount of revenue IVMs have available for developing the cars, particularly plug-in hybrids. Read more at Green Car Congress or see the notice from CARB here. Certain units of the BMW i3 are subject to an airbag recall. For cars built March 31, 2014, the passenger airbag inflator may have been assembled incorrectly, which could keep it from deploying when needed. Owners will be notified by BMW, and the problem will be fixed for free. The recall also affects certain 2014 Mini Cooper models. Learn more at the NHTSA website. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is providing 200 electric vehicles to telecommunications company Orange in France. The cars, which will include the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, Renault ZOE and Renault Kangoo ZE, will be used mostly for carsharing. Through the program, Orange employees can book a car for work or personal travel using a smartphone. The Alliance will also help Orange install charging stations for the new cars. The addition of the EVs to the fleet will help Orange achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2020. Read more in the press release, below. Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC) is delivering its first 100 EVs to the US. The shipment is part of a larger order of 2,000 cars to be sold by GreenTech Automotive in the US market. Read more at ECNS.

NHTSA investigating Bosch Power Xpress 240V EV chargers for fire risk

*UPDATED with Bosch's comment. Let's stamp out the flames of suspicion right up front. A new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation, while involving a 2013 Nissan Leaf and some smoke, is not about another EV fire. Not directly, anyway. "Nissan has determined by pictures that the car was not to blame for the incident" – NHTSA complaint This time, the subject of the NHTSA's lens is the Bosch Power Xpress 240V charging unit. NHTSA wants to know if an overheating charging cord caused smoke (NHTSA says there was no actual fire) in a Leaf owner's garage last fall. NHTSA says it will investigate, "to evaluate the scope, frequency, and consequence of the alleged defect." Up to 50 of the charging units could be involved, and NHTSA decided to act based on a single customer complaint that was filed in August 2013. The investigation opened April 15, so it will likely be a while before we know any more concrete details. For now, you can read the official details of the investigation and the original complaint - which says, "Nissan has determined by pictures that the car was not to blame for the incident. They are blaming the charging station for the failure. They have denied any warranty coverage. The burden of the bill has been placed with the customer" – below. Nissan's senior manager of corporate communications, Brian Brockman, sent AutoblogGreen a statement that says Nissan will work with NHTSA and Bosch and points out that, "This inquiry is focused on the electric vehicle charger and is directed at the charger supplier, Bosch." Requests for comment from Bosch were not returned, but we will update this post when we hear back. Bosch spokesperson Cheryl Kilborn told AutoblogGreen that, "Bosch is reviewing the filing and will work cooperatively with NHTSA as we seek to identify the root cause." INVESTIGATION Subject : Bosch EV charging cord overheating Date Investigation Opened: APR 15, 2014 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: PE14011 Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM All Products Associated with this Investigation close Equipment Brand NamePart No.

Nissan-Dongfeng's Leaf-based Venucia e30 EV goes on sale in China

Nissan's proverbial other shoe has dropped on the other side of the world. The Japanese automaker, along with Chinese company Dongfeng, has started selling the Venucia e30 battery-electric vehicle in the world's most populous country. How the sister vehicle to the Nissan Leaf will fare remains to be seen, but it's a pretty big bet. The companies certainly tested the model enough, very quietly running 300 trial vehicles a combined three million miles on China's roads. The result is a vehicle the companies say reduces operating costs by about 85 percent relative to gas-powered vehicles and can go 35 miles on a five-minute quick-charge. In China, the Venucia e30 retails for about $44,000, though that's before government incentives kick in. The car will debut with sales in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian, Wuhan, Tianjin, Zhengzhou and Hangzhou. The rest of the country gets access to the model next year. Nissan and its Chinese partner are probably hoping for the kind of success Nissan's has finally started to have with the Leaf in the US recently. Last month, Nissan moved 3,186 Leaf vehicles Stateside, a monthly record. Year-to-date US sales of the Leaf are up 34 percent from last year to 18,841 units. You can find more info on the e30 in Nissan's press release below. DONGFENG NISSAN LAUNCHES ITS FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC VEHICLE - Venucia `e30' offers trusted, affordable, pure EV experience for Chinese consumers - SHANGHAI, China (September 10, 2014) - Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV) today launches its first pure-electric vehicle model, "e30," from its local Venucia brand. With a five million kilometer pilot run across China completed prior to launch, e30 is trusted to bring Chinese consumers an enjoyable EV experience at affordable running costs. Its starting price is set at RMB 267,800 Venucia e30 Jun Seki, President of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (DFL), Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., said, "With Nissan Global's advanced technology, sales experience and know-how of electric vehicle, the Venucia e30 has been locally developed through our careful studies about market situations and consumer needs in China. I am looking forward to seeing the Venucia e30 lead China's electric-vehicle market into the future and also to more development of new energy vehicles and the wide adoption of electric vehicles in China." e30 achieves an optimal balance between driving range, affordability and convenient charging.