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Nissan buys jalopy Maxima after seeing filmmaker's epic sales ad

When Luke Akers wanted to sell his 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE - yes, the one seen above that needs a ratchet strap to keep the front end from bursting with joy - the Florida filmmaker turned on his cameras and yelled "Quiet on set!" The result is a one-minute videographic homage to mankind's monuments, narrated with all the intensity of a BBC documentary to sell a 17-year-old sports sedan that comes "fully loaded with an engine, wheels, tires and an automatic transmission."
Just like the car in question, the ad did its job: Nissan bought the Maxima from Akers and the company donated another $1,000 to his charity of choice. Three cheers to both Akers and Nissan for their work. You can check out the video below, and head to the Ikonik Films site for the humorous print ads that were also part of the campaign.

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

Infiniti's new Design Director is American Alfonso Albaisa

The man responsible for creating the sleek 2010 Nissan Ellure Concept you see above is now the design director for Infiniti. Alfonso Albaisa (shown at right) has been a member of the Nissan design team for 25 years, but was recently promoted to executive design director for the Infiniti brand.
His past roles at Nissan have included design director for Nissan from 2004 to 2007, vice president of Nissan Design Europe from 2007 to 2011, vice president of Nissan Design America in 2011 and, most recently, he held the title of Nissan's global design director. Aside from Ellure, Albaisa was also responsible for designing the 2012 Nissan Xtrem Concept, "key strategic production vehicles soon to be launched" and he's even contributed to a handful of Infiniti designs. Scroll down for the official press release.