2013 Nissan Pathfinder on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Renault EV movie, H2 fueling in Paris

Renault has debuted a new documentary called Le Peuple Electrique, or The Electric People. The film features two drivers touring France over the course of three weeks in a Renault Zoe electric vehicle. Along the way, the duo meet and come to rely upon other members of the EV driving community. Renault is showcasing the film at the COP21 summit in Paris to give an insight into the culture of electric vehicles. See the film above (it's in French), and read more in the press release from Renault.Nissan and Renault have joined forces for an ad campaign for their electric vehicles. The campaign, which focuses on the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, coincides with the COP21 environmental summit, for which the automakers have supplied 200 electric cars as shuttles for attendees. The ad campaign consists of press, posters, and a series of six videos, each 15 seconds in length, to be shown on social media networks in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Read more from Renault.Air Liquide has announced a hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell taxis in Paris. Electric taxi company STEP plans to launch a fleet of at least 70 Hyundai ix35 (Tucson) Fuel Cell taxis in the next five years. The fueling station will be located at Cours Albert 1er near the Eiffel Tower, so this is truly in the heart of the city. "This first station will allow us to promote the benefits of hydrogen as a clean energy for vehicles with consumers," says Air Liquide's Francois Darchis. "Hydrogen offers a concrete solution to the challenges posed by the issue of sustainable mobility, reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as local pollution in urban areas." Read more from Air Liquide, or at Technologic Vehicles.The world's largest ultra-fast EV charging station is now operational in Beijing, China. Located at the Xiaoying Public Transit Bus Terminal, the station is capable of charging buses to 100 percent in as little as 10 minutes. It features 25 360-kW chargers and five 90-kW chargers, and enough space for 30 buses at a time. The buses come in to charge two or three times a day during their regular operation. Just in time, too. Read more in the press release below. World's Largest Ultra-fast EV Charging Station Goes Live in Beijing, Fully Charging Commercial Vehicles in 10 Minutes This 26,500 m(2) EV charging complex has 25 chargers at 360kW and 5 chargers at 90kW; maintaining a capacity for Ultra-fast charging 30 urban transit buses at the same time STAFFORD, Texas, Dec.

Daimler consulting with Ford about 3-cylinder engines

Soon enough, Ford will offer its 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine under the hood of the Fiesta here in the United States, building on the success of the small powerplant overseas. In fact, this success has caused other automakers to take notice, and according to Automotive News Europe, Daimler is now talking to Ford about this engine for use in its own products.
In other markets, Ford offers the 1.0-liter mill under the hood of the Focus (we had the chance to sample this package on our home turf), as well as the B-Max MPV. For this new collaboration, Daimler would use the turbo-three in the next-generation Smart ForTwo, as well as the Renault Twingo, which the German automaker will be collaborating on as part of its alliance with Renault-Nissan. Speaking to AN, a Mercedes-Benz engineer called the 1.0-liter mill an "interesting and impressive engine."
In exchange for details about the EcoBoost inline-three, Daimler will supply Ford with information regarding its Euro6 stratified lean-burn gasoline engine, which is found in the new E-Class sedan.

Nissan Micra overtaken by bees in England

A 20,000-insect-strong colony of bees attempted to turn a Nissan Micra into their new hive on Friday. The invasion happened in the English town of Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth, and is just one of a few unexpected bee swarms in the country in recent days.
The car belonged to a student, who alerted the local council. A beekeeper was called in to move the colony of European honey bees to a safer location, on the roof of a nearby church, where they can be tended to.
Scroll down for a video of the bees in full-on swarm mode on the back of the second-gen Micra.