Auto blog

ROEV lets you use multiple charging networks with one account

It may be a textbook case of a first-world problem, but any EV driver who doesn't want to carry two or three plug-in vehicle charging station cards when one would do is about to get a little smile on their face. This morning at the LA Auto Show, the new ROEV Association was announced that will let EV drivers carry just the one card. While you would think the all-caps ROEV stands for something, none of the pre-announcement materials nor the website explain it that way. Instead, it seems to just be a play on rove, which makes a lot of sense. There are three charging networks involved in ROEV: Blink, ChargePoint, and EVgo. Conveniently, these are the three largest in the US and have a combined 17,500 public chargers across the country. If you've got an account with one of these three networks, once ROEV goes into effect (expected in the spring of 2016), you'll be able to use that card at any participating charger without signing up for another account. Your personal details are kept private, ROEV says, and the companies coordinate behind the scenes to make it work. Pricing details were not disclosed. Besides the three main charging networks, two automakers are also founding members of ROEV: BMW and Nissan. ROEV says that Audi and Honda have also have already joined the Association and the organization wants to pull in all EV stakeholders to make electric vehicle charging easy. Fans of EV technology will note that ROEV has nothing to do with promoting either the CHAdeMO or the SAE Combo (CCS) fast charging standard. The Leaf is a CHAdeMO car while the i3 uses CCS, for example. The charging networks, of course, provide both kinds of plugs and don't promote one over the other. Tesla and its Supercharger network are not involved in ROEV, but Tesla drivers can, of course, participate in ROEV.

Nissan Juke-R [w/video]

The Other Brother
The handler strapped into the carbon fiber race bucket next to me is the only other person outside of yours truly who looks like he thinks this is a bad idea. I've just finished situating myself in the cabin of the very first Nissan Juke-R ever constructed. There are literally thousands of man hours in this single prototype and only four examples of the car total in the entire world. Each one carries a price tag of around $656,400 at current conversion rates, making this both the rarest and most expensive piece of machinery anyone has ever let me get close enough to sniff, let alone drive.
And that's exactly what I mean to do.

Japanese automakers welcome North American trade deal, fear what's next

TOKYO — Toyota, Nissan and Mazda welcomed on Tuesday the revised North America trade deal that left Japanese automakers unscathed, but they may face a bumpy ride when Washington and Tokyo hold new talks on over $40 billion of annual U.S. auto imports from Japan. The United States and Canada reached an agreement on Sunday to update the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement after Washington had forged a separate trade deal with Mexico in August. The updated deal effectively maintains the auto industry's current footprint in North America, and spares Canada and Mexico from the prospect of U.S. national security tariffs on their vehicles. Mazda, which ships cars to the United States from Mexico and Japan, called the deal a "big step forward". Nissan, which makes the cars it sells in the United States locally as well as in Mexico, Japan and other countries, said it was "encouraged" by the agreement. Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, said it was "pleased" that a basic deal was reached. Other automakers were not immediately available for comment. While the deal has removed the risk that the disintegration of the pact would have posed to automakers, bigger risks loom large for Japanese firms as a chunk of the roughly 7 million cars they sold in the U.S. last year were shipped from Japan, and a trade deal between Washington and Tokyo has yet to be agreed. The United States and Japan last week agreed to begin fresh trade talks, with U.S. President Donald Trump seeking to address Japan's $69 billion trade surplus, of which nearly two-thirds comes from auto exports. Washington is also investigating the possibility of slapping 25 percent tariffs on auto imports on national security grounds, although it has agreed with Japan to put any new tariffs on hold during the talks. Analysts say the United States may take a tougher stance on auto imports from Japan than from its neighbors. "If Japan requests an exemption from the 25 percent tariffs under consideration, Washington could propose a more strict cap on imports than it agreed to with Mexico and Canada," said Koji Endo, senior analyst at SBI Securities. "That would be a risk." This could be a big blow to Japan, as the United States is a key source of revenue for Japanese automakers including Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The U.S. market accounts for a quarter or more of their annual global vehicle sales, and of their total U.S.