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Meet Sparky, Nissan's Leaf-based, Frontier-bedded EV parts hauler [w/video]

For many enthusiasts, the concept of the ute - a car with a pickup bed - is somehow irresistibly appealing. On paper, it promises the marriage of a truck's utility and a car's superior driving dynamics, and for that reason alone, we'd love to see more of them. Yet while other parts of the world get them in good numbers, North America doesn't ever see them - at least not for long. Based on what we've seen of late, though, that's not due to a lack of motivation on the part of engineers.
BMW wowed us several years ago with an M3 ute, and earlier this year, some interns converted a Mini Paceman into the pickup-bodied Paceman Adventure. Loathe to let their rivals in Munich and Oxford have all the fun, Nissan has built its very own car-based pickup. Meet Sparky, the world's first Leaf Frontier.
Like the M3, this all-electric ute is used as a parts hauler for Nissan's engineering teams at its sprawling Stanfield, AZ tech center and proving grounds.

Why this could be the perfect time for Apple to make a car play

While the automotive and technology worlds have been pouring billions into autonomous vehicles (AVs) and preparing to bring them to market soon as shared robo-taxis, Apple has mostly sat on the sidelines. Of course, Apple is the last company to ever make its intentions known, and the super-secret tech cult giant hasn't been totally out of the AV game based on the clues that have slipped out of its Cupertino, Calif., citadel over the past few years. Related: Apple self-driving cars are real — one was just in an accident News first broke in 2015 that it had assembled an automotive development team, in part by poaching high-profile talent from car companies, to work on a top-secret self-driving vehicle project code-named Titan. (Thank you very much, Nissan.) Apple also subsequently broke cover by making inquiries into using a Northern California AV testing facility and receiving a permit to test AVs on public roads in California. But then as the AV race started to heat up in the last few years, Apple reportedly began scaling back its car activities by downsizing team Titan. More recently, Apple's car project has shown signs of life with the hiring a high-level engineer away from Waymo and luring one Tesla's top engineers and a former employee back to Apple. It also inked a deal with Volkswagen to provide a technology platform and software to convert the automaker's new T6 Transporter vans into autonomous shuttles for employees at tech company's new campus. That is a far cry from giving rides to Wal-Mart shoppers, like Waymo is doing as part of its AV testing in Phoenix. But this could be the perfect time for Apple to enter the AV market now that ride-sharing is reaching critical mass and automakers and others are planning to deploy fleets of robo-taxis. Apple could easily establish a niche as a high-end ride-sharing service – and charge a premium – given its cult-like brand loyalty and design savvy. The growth of car subscription models could also play in Apple's favor since is already has many people hooked on paying for phones in monthly installments – and eager to upgrade when a new and better model becomes available. To achieve this, some believe Apple will fulfill co-founder and CEO Steve Job's dream of building a car. And as the world's first and only $1 trillion company it's sitting on a mountain of cash that certainly gives it the means. But other tech darlings like Tesla and Google have discovered how difficult it can be to build cars at scale.

Nissan, Renault in talks to merge as one company

Nissan and Renault have been tied together as an alliance for nearly 20 years, but now the Japanese and French automakers are discussing whether to merge. Bloomberg, citing unidentified sources familiar with the confidential talks, reports that the idea is to form a larger, single publicly traded company to better compete against giants like Toyota and Volkswagen. It would also mark the end of the alliance that first began in 1999 and also includes Mitsubishi, in which Nissan acquired a controlling interest in 2016. A full merger would help the companies pool resources to develop electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and car-sharing services. It would involve Nissan giving Renault shareholders stock in the new company, with Nissan shareholders also gaining shares in the new company, Bloomberg reports. The new company would be run by Carlos Ghosn, the current chairman of both companies. But any such merger, as you might expect, would be complicated, in part by geopolitics. The French government owns a 15-percent stake in Renault, and both the French and Japanese governments might be reluctant to let go of their respective home-grown brands. Currently, Renault owns a 43-percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan owns 15 percent of its French partner. Reuters reported recently that Ghosn proposed buying most of the French government's stake in Renault as part of plans for a closer tie-up. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance already has been working to establish a $200 million mobility tech fund to invest in startups, a reflection of how seismic changes in the auto industry have left many legacy companies scrambling to stay current. Nissan in 2016 paid a reported $2.3 billion to acquire 34 percent of Mitsubishi in order to share platforms, technology, manufacturing and other resources. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg Earnings/Financials Government/Legal Green Mitsubishi Nissan Renault car sharing merger