1998 Nissan Altima Gle Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: utility sells discounted Powerwall, Nissan-Renault builds 340K EVs

Vermont electric utility Green Mountain Power is selling discounted Tesla Powerwalls to its customers in hopes of balancing the grid. The battery packs would be used not just to help customers store renewable energy for home solar systems or as backup power, but also to occasionally discharge power back to the grid when needed. In addition to this decentralized energy storage being useful to customers, it also benefits the utility by taking demand off energy generating infrastructure during periods of peak demand. The pilot project will put 500 Tesla Powerwalls in customers' homes. Learn more at Green Car Reports, or in the story from Vermont Public Radio. Together, Nissan and Renault have built 340,000 electric cars. The allied Japanese and French automakers hit 100,000 EVs in July 2013, 200,000 in November 2014, and a quarter million in June of 2015. The Nissan Leaf, which first went on sale at the end of 2010, makes up the bulk of the EVs the Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold. Renault delivered its 50,000th Zoe EV in April 2016. Leaf sales have declined in the US in recent months, due at least in part to the anticipation of the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3. Nissan, however, is expected to update the Leaf with a 200-mile driving range in the coming years. Read more at Green Car Reports. Students at the Bearys Institute of Technology (BIT) in Karnataka, India have built what they call the Hybrid Water Car. The car uses a system to electrolyze hydrogen from water and add it to the fuel for more efficient combustion. The system has been placed into a chopped up, lightweighted Maruti Omni. While the benefits of onboard hydrogen electrolyzers have been debated for some time, the BIT students don't plan to stop there, as their next project car will be fueled completely by hydrogen. Read more from Car and Bike. Facebook has hired Rich Heley away from Tesla. The former Tesla VP of Product Technology is making the move to the social media giant's new Building 8 research lab. Heley joined Tesla in November 2013 after working at Apple. Read more at Automotive News.

Recharge Wrap-up: Honda releases "Green Dealer" Guide, Tesla's China president steps down

Honda has released its "Green Dealer" Guide to the public. The guide, which is used to outline ways for Honda and Acura dealerships to be more environmentally responsible can also help other businesses take the same steps to green up their practices, save energy and even save money in the process. The guide, which ranks dealers based on a points system, provides incentive to dealerships to implement the environmentally practices, but it also helps Honda assert itself as a leader for green business. Read more at Automotive News or in the press release below. Nissan Leaf owners in the UK love their car, and aren't looking back at their fossil-fueled past. According to a survey by Nissan, 93 percent use the EV as their main family vehicle. 89 percent report saving money driving, 64 percent prefer it to driving a conventionally powered car and 95 percent would recommend the car to a friend. Most said they wouldn't go back to a gas or diesel car. One owner even gave up his Aston Martin for a second Leaf so he and his wife wouldn't argue over who got to drive the EV to work each day. That's love. Read more at Next Green Car and at Hybrid Cars. Renault has outlined its future sustainable mobility plans, including two pieces of technology going into production cars soon. Renault will put a smaller, more efficient electric motor into production, as well as a three-cylinder dual-fuel gasoline/liquid petroleum gas engine. The HYDIVU prototype will help Renault research mild hybrid technology for light commercial vehicles. The VELUD project will look into making the last mile of urban deliveries more sustainable. Renault is also testing a two-cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine for small vehicle platforms. Read more in the press release below. Tesla's China president has resigned. Veronica Wu had been in charge of the company's operations in China for the past nine months, and with her leaving the company, Tom Zhu will step into the role. Jochen Siebert of Shanghai-based JSC Automotive Consulting says that, "Tesla counts on China as one of their main drivers of growth after California, and it might have been more difficult than they thought." Tesla states it is still "confident in the Chinese market," where it has sold the Model S since April. Read more at Bloomberg.

Nissan will restore Craigslist Maxima, display at headquarters [w/video]

Nissan showed that it had a great sense of humor when it bought Luke Aker's beat-up 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE for $1,400 back in December based solely on the quality of his tongue-in-cheek sales video.
Aker's Maxima had been thoroughly driven. It needed a strap to keep its hood closed, had front end damage, a missing turn signal and shredded leather seats. Of course, like Aker said in his ad, the car was still "fully loaded with an engine, wheels, tires and an automatic transmission." How could Nissan resist?
After buying the car, Nissan teamed up with MotorAuthority to decide what to do with it. The winning idea was to restore the car to its proper condition and display it at Nissan North America headquarters in Franklin, TN, with Aker's video playing nearby. According to MotorAuthority, the car has finally made it there, and its rebirth will begin soon. Nissan is not sure when the car will go on display.