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Demand for electric car rentals unplugged by range anxiety

It's the hurdle that electric vehicles must clear to be launched into the mainstream: range anxiety. But this time it isn't prospective customers who worry about running out of juice, Bloomberg reports, but renters who return to car rental agencies before their lease is up and trade their EVs in for more traditional gasoline-powered autos and gas-electric hybrids.
"People are very keen to try [electric vehicles], but they will switch out of the contract part way through ... they think they can't get to a charging station," says Lee Broughton, head of sustainability at Enterprise. Enterprise customers who rent EVs reportedly trade them in 1.6 days into the rental period on average, which compares unfavorably to the six- to seven-day rental periods of traditional, fuel-burning automobiles.
Christopher Agnew, an analyst at MKM Holdings LLC, says that longer range would help rental customers' range anxiety, especially since they are usually renting vehicles in unfamiliar places.

Nissan teases new pickup on Twitter [w/video]

Nissan is celebrating 80 years of building pickup trucks by teasing its latest one on Twitter ahead of a June 11 reveal. Official information about the new vehicle is essentially nonexistent at the moment, but there are some clues to extrapolate from.
There's a special member of the #Nissan family on the way. Due date: June 11th. pic.twitter.com/OkQ0GkXypV

- Nissan (@Nissan) June 2, 2014

Nissan BladeGlider Concept shows its inner DeltaWing

Just like the DeltaWing and ZEOD RC racecars, it takes seeing the Nissan BladeGlider concept live to get a true appreciation for its design. But that doesn't mean it's any less weird. The wedge-shaped, three-seat concept car hit the stage today at the Tokyo Motor Show, and Nissan says the car is an "exploratory prototype" for a future production model.
The BladeGlider is defined by its design with front wheels that are just about three feet apart, while the rear has a more conventional track. Opening the scissor doors reveals a center driving position flanked by two passenger seats with a cockpit-inspired design. Although no power figures were revealed for the conceptual vehicle, Nissan does say that the BladeGlider is an all-electric vehicle with its battery pack mounted toward the rear of the car helping to provide a 30/70 weight distribution front to rear.
Check out our live images of the BladeGlider as well as the Nissan press release below.