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Toyota, Nissan, Honda will work together on hydrogen filling stations

Japan's own version of the Big Three is taking on a transportation effort that's a far cry from the large-engined history of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. In fact, Toyota, Nissan and Honda are looking to do their part – and maybe a little more – for the environment by working together to collaborate on accelerating the deployment of hydrogen fuel delivery in Japan. More refueling stations means more convenience for prospective hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle owners. Toyota says the specifics, including investment amount and the number of stations to be deployed, will be "determined at a later date." Still, the effort dovetails with that of the Japanese government. That government announced a so-called Strategic Road Map for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells last June and subsequently said it would start offering about $20,000 worth of incentives for fuel cell vehicle buyers. In December, Toyota started selling its first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, in Japan and said it would almost triple production to 2,000 vehicles in 2016 from 700 this year. Last month, the Tokyo government began talks with Toyota and Honda to collaborate on ensuring that there'd be at least 6,000 fuel-cell vehicles on Japan's roads in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Tokyo officials are looking to have 100,000 fuel-cell vehicles on the city's roads by 2025. Check out Toyota's press release below. Toyota, Nissan, and Honda to Jointly Support Hydrogen Station Infrastructure Development Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. have agreed to work together to help accelerate the development of hydrogen station infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Specific measures to be undertaken by the three manufacturers will be determined at a later date. For hydrogen-fueled FCVs to gain popularity, it is not only important that attractive products be launched-hydrogen station infrastructure must also be developed. At present, infrastructure companies are making every effort to build such an infrastructure, but they face difficulties in installing and operating hydrogen stations while FCVs are not common on the road. Following the formulation of its Strategic Road Map for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in June 2014, the Japanese government has highlighted the importance of developing hydrogen station infrastructure as quickly as possible in order to popularize FCVs.

Nissan working on unspecified improvements to Carwings in Leaf EV

Fly a little higher, Carwings. Nissan has been using the communication system as a way for drivers of the battery-electric Leaf to do things like use a smartphone start the charging process remotely, check the charging status or find nearby charging stations. The service was one of the tools Nissan was offering to newbie drivers of the first US mass-produced electric vehicle to better familiarize themselves with ideas like recharging your car from miles away. Now, three-plus years into the model's lifetime, Nissan is looking to get more out of Carwings, Wards Auto says, citing Nissan North America executive Robyn Williams. Specifically, Nissan is hoping Carwings will eventually be able to communicate information about the battery's health, or lack thereof (i.e. degradation) to the driver. That issue was made clear a couple of years ago when Leaf drivers in hot-weather locales such as Arizona said their batteries were losing capacity at a faster rate than advertised. Nissan North America spokesman Brian Brockman, in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen, would only say that the automaker "is always working to determine ways to offer more value to customers via telematics systems like Carwings," but declined to be more specific about any particular technological advancements. Nissan debuted Carwings in late 2010, and, among other things, the concept was novel because it let Leaf drivers compare driving efficiency with other Leaf drivers (think of it as a real silent hypermiling contest). The feature had been used as a telecommunications system on a number of Nissan models in Japan for years before being introduced on the Leaf.

Nissan ZEOD RC stretches its legs for the first time

Ever see one of those videos where a baby deer is born and immediately starts walking? Well, this isn't one of those. For starters, the Nissan ZEOD RC isn't exactly a newborn. Nissan took the design of the DeltaWing, gave it a hybrid engine and called it something new. And it hardly started galloping straight out the box, either: this was just a low-speed demonstration run, held at Fuji Speedway where it debuted this past weekend.
Still, seeing the car that's destined to take the first lap of Le Mans under electric power alone actually start up and run is something of a landmark in the development of electric racing cars - even if this is, despite Nissan's best efforts to avoid the term, a hybrid, not a pure EV. The name stands for Zero Emissions On Demand, not zero emissions all the time. But then ZEATT wouldn't make for a very good name anyway, would it? See for yourself in the video below.