2011 Nissan 370z Touring Automatic 2-door Coupe on 2040-cars

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Formula Drift kicks off 11th season on Streets of Long Beach

The 2014 Formula Drift series kicked off last weekend in Long Beach, and saw Chris Forsberg, who you'll recall went mad and drifted around a warehouse in an Infiniti M, take the title behind the wheel of his Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z (shown above).
Forsberg really ran away with the first round of competition, outscoring his closest opponent, second-place finisher Kenneth Moen and his Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX, by 20 points. Third place was 2013 championship winner Michael Essa and his Yokohama BMW M3, 30.5 points behind Forsberg.
In the manufacturers' title, Nissan took an early lead with 122 points, which isn't a huge surprise considering five of the top ten drifters were piloting either a Z or a product of the brand's S platform. Ford, which had two drivers (Justin Pawlak and Vaughn Gittin, Jr.) in the top ten, took home second place, while BMW is currently third in the manufacturers' standings.

2013 Nissan GT-R and 2013 Alpina B6 mix it up on track and street

Here we have Autocar making an unforeseen comparison: the Nissan GT-R against the Alpina B6 at Brands Hatch and on public roads. Steve Sutcliffe clobbers the circuit in the 3,828-pound, all-wheel-drive sports car, then sees how well the 4,114-pound, rear-wheel drive grand tourer does against it.
Sutcliffe says there are quite a few similarities between the two cars, but that's really only on the spec sheet. The Nissan's got two turbos attached to its 3.8-liter V6, 542 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. The Alpina's got two turbos attached to its 4.4-liter V8, 532 hp and 528 lb-ft. But one's brief is to be a monster on the track, the other on the boulevard, and if there's anything the video demonstrates, it's each car's focus.

Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan and Endesa launch V2G project; BMW denies Apple will use i3

Nissan and Endesa will work together to deliver a mass-market vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system. The technology would allow users to charge their vehicle during off-peak hours, and sell energy back to the grid during periods of high demand. The two companies are looking to launch V2G technology in Europe, as well as exploring second-life projects using retired EV batteries for stationary energy storage. V2G allows users to lower the cost of ownership of their EV, and also helps stabilize the grid, particularly in countries that use a large amount of renewable energy. Endesa will demonstrate its V2G technology system in Madrid on March 12. Read more from Nissan. BMW denies reports that Apple will build a car based on the i3. German magazine Auto Motor und Sport said that such a deal was in the works, and that the Apple car could be sold by Apple and serviced by BMW. "We are in regular talks with companies from the IT and telecommunications sector, including Apple, concerning topics like connected vehicles," says BMW. "Developing or building a car is not a topic of these discussions." Anonymous sources say that Apple could have a car available for production in 2020. Read more at Automotive News Europe. BluepointLondon will take over the management of 60 EV charging stations from Transport for London. The 60 chargers are in the boroughs of Southwark and Sutton, and Bluepoint expects to take over management of charging infrastructure in other London boroughs as well. "A better maintained and more extensive charging infrastructure will mean more drivers are able to use electric vehicles and join the early-adopters who are already helping London reach lower emissions level," says BluepointLondon Director Christophe Arnaud. "We are very excited to be playing our part." BluepointLondon aims to manage 6,000 charging points in London by 2018. Read more in the press release below. Efficient Drivetrains, Inc. (EDI) offers plug-in hybrid conversions for GM light-duty trucks. The PHEV drivetrain offers all the performance of the original model, but reduces consumption and emissions by as much as 80 percent. It offers 30 to 40 miles of all-electric range plus enough energy to act as an idle-free power supply for tools and the like without depleting range. The EDI drivetrain can even be used to charge other EVs. Says EDI's Charlie Travis, "The light duty truck class is an important and high-volume vehicle category for fleet owners.