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Nissan Micra overtaken by bees in England

A 20,000-insect-strong colony of bees attempted to turn a Nissan Micra into their new hive on Friday. The invasion happened in the English town of Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth, and is just one of a few unexpected bee swarms in the country in recent days.
The car belonged to a student, who alerted the local council. A beekeeper was called in to move the colony of European honey bees to a safer location, on the roof of a nearby church, where they can be tended to.
Scroll down for a video of the bees in full-on swarm mode on the back of the second-gen Micra.

2014 Nissan Dayz Roox is the littlest high-roof van you ever did see

Even average production cars from Japan often seem very conceptual to US eyes. Throw in typical, nonsensical-quasi-English-words name like "Dayz Roox" and you'd be forgiven for thinking this Nissan box on wheels was still a designer's dream. But the fact is that the Nissan Dayz is a model currently on sale, and this Roox version is the latest take on the micro-van, which is a popular segment in Japan.
In fact, this generation of Dayz is the first minicar that Nissan has developed completely in-house, and the thing has been selling astoundingly well in its first stint on the market (30k units in month one month, says Nissan). So it's unsurprising that the company is looking to expand the range with a model that is more fully featured.
The Roox (we have no clue as to where that name came from, or what it means) would appear to be a high-roof version of the three-cylinder Dayz minicar - in fact Nissan goes so far as to call it an "Impressive Super Height Wagon." Features like automatic sliding doors, Around View Monitor and UV-insulated glass are all luxuries in kei-class car. The press release also specifies that the Roox is tall enough to swallow a 27-inch bicycle.

Recharge Wrap-up: No Tesla Gigafactory deal with California, BMW i3 recalled

Before the Nevada announcement was hinted at, a deal to incentivize a Tesla Gigafactory in California fell through. Tesla was looking for around $500 million in incentives, which the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development was willing to offer in tax breaks along with making the permit and environmental processes easier. According to Senator Ted Gaines, there still remained "a gap between what Tesla wanted and what California was willing to offer," the contents of which were undisclosed. California could still be chosen for another of Tesla's battery plants, should those ever materialize. Read more at The Desert Sun. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will consider allowing a bit of compliance flexibility to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations for some automakers. CARB will hold a hearing to discuss giving intermediate volume manufacturers (IVMs) - carmakers that do between 4,501 and 60,000 new vehicle sales in the state - some leniency catching up to the larger manufacturers when it comes to clean vehicle production. The ZEV regulation changes take into account the amount of revenue IVMs have available for developing the cars, particularly plug-in hybrids. Read more at Green Car Congress or see the notice from CARB here. Certain units of the BMW i3 are subject to an airbag recall. For cars built March 31, 2014, the passenger airbag inflator may have been assembled incorrectly, which could keep it from deploying when needed. Owners will be notified by BMW, and the problem will be fixed for free. The recall also affects certain 2014 Mini Cooper models. Learn more at the NHTSA website. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is providing 200 electric vehicles to telecommunications company Orange in France. The cars, which will include the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, Renault ZOE and Renault Kangoo ZE, will be used mostly for carsharing. Through the program, Orange employees can book a car for work or personal travel using a smartphone. The Alliance will also help Orange install charging stations for the new cars. The addition of the EVs to the fleet will help Orange achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2020. Read more in the press release, below. Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC) is delivering its first 100 EVs to the US. The shipment is part of a larger order of 2,000 cars to be sold by GreenTech Automotive in the US market. Read more at ECNS.