1991 Nissan 240sx Base Hatchback 2-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Carlos Ghosn brings Nissan Leaf EV to happy nation of Bhutan

The Nissan Leaf has been declared the cleanest car in the US, and it's going to have a good case to claim the same title in Bhutan. Yes, Bhutan, the country famous for measuring Gross National Happiness is about to get serious about the EV Grin. Last December, we learned that Bhutan's capital city, Thimphu, wanted to build up a Leaf taxi fleet. That's when Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn went to Bhutan to talk about the project and he has recently returned to deliver some vehicles to the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, who has been advocating for EVs since taking office in July and has set a preliminary target of 2,000 EVs on the streets of Thimphu. Tobgay said his country, "will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date." It's not an outrageous goal for the Himalayan country, since it generates a lot of hydro-electric power, way more than it can use. There are only around 750,000 citizens of Bhutan and they only use five percent of the clean power made within its borders. Most of the rest goes to neighbor India. The problem, as expressed in Nissan's press release (available below), is that Bhutan takes "almost all of the revenue earned from selling electricity" to buy fossil fuel from India and power its national vehicle fleet. You can probably see how making the switch to EVs can simplify and clean things all around. There's a video of Ghosn's Bhutan trip below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan Partners with Bhutan on National EV Strategy Feb. 21 – Thimphu, Bhutan – An electric revolution has begun in Bhutan. The remote Himalayan country, renowned for championing "Gross National Happiness," has taken first steps towards becoming a leading global electric-vehicle nation. Prime Ministers of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced a partnership in Thimphu Friday, which will see both parties work toward achieving Bhutan's ambitious clean-energy goals. "We will develop a program, we will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date," said Tobgay who has backed the EV project since taking office in July last year.

Nissan working on something radical for Le Mans

With Porsche joining Audi and Toyota at the front of the LMP1 grid at Le Mans next year, Nissan is the next to be throwing its hat (and considerable R&D budget) into the proverbial ring. But only if it's allowed to do something radically different, according to the latest report in Car magazine.
Just what that means remains to be seen, but Nissan is reportedly in active discussions with the ACO (the body that governs the race) to see how far it can stretch the regulations. The ACO has taken an intriguingly different approach to equalizing performance, mandating the maximum amount of energy that can be used per lap instead of telling teams what kind of engines they can use. That's how Porsche is entering with a four-cylinder engine, Toyota with a V8 and Audi with a diesel six. But when it comes to the shape of the car itself, the rules are considerably more restrictive.
Unfortunately the rules would prohibit Nissan fielding the ZEOD RC (with its narrow front track) in the LMP1 class, relegating it instead to the Garage 56 slot for experimental racers (which the DeltaWing filled before). And the realities of endurance racing would effectively prohibit anyone from fielding an all-electric racer. Within those confines, though, Nissan is eager to find enough wiggle room to make something both visually and technically different from other LMPs. And if the ACO won't let it do so at Le Mans, it could turn to another race or series (like the Nürburgring 24) that would.

New world record set with 507 EVs in parade [w/video] *UPDATE

Let's be honest, with more and more electric vehicles out in the world, it's getting easier to bring more and more of them together in one spot. Still, the work that goes into convincing over 500 EV owners to show up at one place at one time should be rewarded. And, in the case of the San Francisco Bay Leafs and Electric Auto Association Silicon Valley Chapter efforts yesterday as part of this year's National Drive Electric Week celebrations in in Cupertino, CA, the reward is a new Guinness World Record for the most electric vehicles in a parade. The number? 507 pure EVs gathered (sorry, plug-in hybrids). Recent similar records were set with now-small-looking events that had 305 cars or 431 EVs. The most recent target that the groups were trying to beat was a record originally set at the WAVE rally in Stuttgart, Germany earlier this year, where organizers also claimed to have 507 EVs. Plug In America (PIA) now says that the Stuttgart number was actually 481, giving California a 26-vehicle lead. The most unusual EV at the event was Stella, the solar-powered EV that is touring the world. PIA says that this four-person EV "can produce twice as much energy as it needs in a day," so it should feel right at home in the Golden State. *UPDATE: A previous version of this article said that the parade was organized directly by PIA. We have corrected the error. We've also added a video from Nissan about the parade below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NEW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR NUMBER OF EVS IN A PARADE SET TODAY DURING NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK IN CUPERTINO World Record set with 507 EVs, beating previous record by 26 CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 20, 2014-Philip Robertson, a judge with GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS®, today pronounced a new world record for most electric vehicles in a parade: 507. The record-breaking EV procession took place at the National Drive Electric Week event in Cupertino, Calif. Every vehicle was zero-emission, all-electric. No hybrid-electrics were allowed. 399 Panoramic view taken by Bruce Southwick. Stuttgart, Germany held the previous world record for a 481-EV parade in May 2014. "Congratulations on helping to drive the future of automotive technology," Robertson said upon presenting the Guinness certificate to a cheering crowd of thousands.