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Recharge Wrap-up: first Chevy Volt hits 200K miles, DriveNow launches in London with BMW i3 on deck

The first Chevrolet Volt has driven over 200,000 miles. According to the owner, Erick Belmer, the car, which he purchased on March 28, 2012, is "holding up flawlessly" with "no noticeable battery capacity loss." Belmer has a commute of about 220 miles per day, rotates his tires every 10,000 miles, and gets an oil change every 38,000 miles. Belmer still loves driving his "dream car" every day, and says it is "wonderfully engineered." Read more at Inside EVs. DriveNow has launched in London, and will include the BMW i3 as part of its carsharing fleet. Daimler shut down its Car2go operations there just six months ago. Currently, DriveNow members have access to the BMW 1 Series and Mini Countryman, but come spring of 2015, DriveNow, which is a joint venture between BMW and Sixt SE, will add 30 all-electric i3 EVs to its London service. DriveNow's rates for London are set at 39 pence per minute, with an hourly maximum cost of GBP20 (about 61 US cents and $31, respectively). The service currently operates in the boroughs of Islington, Haringey and Hackney, with hopes of expanded service in the near future. Read more at Hybrid Cars or at Reuters. FIA's Formula E electric racing championship series received the Autosport award for Pioneering and Innovation. The award ceremony was a black-tie event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag accepted the award. "Many people in motorsport, when we started Formula E, didn't think we would make the first race," says Agag. "To announce we were doing a championship with cars that didn't then exist was a real challenge. But after that first race in Beijing, everything worked." Read more at Formula E's website. The Nissan Leaf has driven over a billion collective kilometers. That's more than 621.3 million miles. Nissan said in August that it expected to reach that mark by January, and it has done just that. To celebrate, Nissan Europe has created a video to thank its 147,000 Leaf drivers to bring the car to that substantial milestone in less than four years. Check out the video below. Featured Gallery 2014 Chevrolet Volt View 11 Photos Related Gallery 2014 BMW i3: First Drive View 33 Photos Related Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf: First Drive View 15 Photos News Source: Inside EVs, Hybrid Cars, Reuters, Formula E, YouTube: Nissan EuropeImage Credit: Chevrolet Green BMW Nissan Transportation Alternatives Electric Racing Vehicles recharge wrapup

Thanks to a year of free charges, Nissan Leaf sees sales increase in Texas

Nissan is pretty certain that free charging offers in the two largest metropolitan areas in Texas are substantially boosting sales of the Leaf electric vehicle. Heck, one Houston car dealer says Leaf sales have tripled because of the plan, which is run by NRG through its batch of eVgo Freedom Stations. Each of these stations has a fast-charging outlet and a standard Level 2 cord where EV drivers can plug-in without breaking out the wallet. Here's how the plan works: NRG is offering a year of free charging for those who buy or lease a Leaf in either the Houston or Dallas-Fort Worth areas. NRG has 17 stations in Houston and another 23 in DFW. Nissan pays NRG a fee for employing the program, and it's apparently paying off, Nissan's Brendan Jones told Plug In Cars. The stations are located at retailers such as Walgreens and at gas-station chains. The "No Charge to Charge" program started October 1 and runs through the end of this month. The promotion may be driving sales, but let's remember that Nissan was touting a rise in Leaf sales numbers before the free charging deal went into effect. Of course, the fun does eventually end, and folks have to start paying for the juice after that first year. Two options NRG offers are a 12-month unlimited charging plan for $39.95 a month or a year of unlimited one-hour sessions at a Level 2 a cool $59.95. Californians, there's sadly no word on Nissan or NRG bringing a similar program to the Golden State. Because we know you were wondering that.

Gran Turismo vs reality as Red Bull pro-gamer takes on Nismo pro racer

The last time we saw a real racing driver pitted against a professional gamer, Viagame threw one of each in a Renault Megane RS and the contest was staged as the pro driver navigated the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. That could be seen as a handicap for the gamer, since he's got to get his drive on while dealing with all sorts of unfamiliar G-force sensations that are out of time with what he's doing. Even so, the gamer won.
Nismo has taken its turn, running almost the same contest at Silverstone in the UK. This time, though, it has put its GTAcademy Driver and pro driver Wolfgang Reip in a car by himself, while Red Bull pro gamer Erik Leštach gets to play Gran Turismo 6 safely locked down in the pits. With each driver in his chosen milieu, the game is afoot.
You can find out who won by watching the video below, and for a chance to win something yourself, Nismo will send a box of goodies to whomever guesses the winning time in the video's comments on YouTube.