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Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan 'No Charge' in Denver, A123 doubles

Nissan has introduced its "No Charge To Charge" program in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2, customers who buy their new Nissan Leaf from certified dealers in the metro Denver area will get two years of free charging. Denver is the 16th market to offer "No Charge To Charge," with a total of at least 25 US markets scheduled to offer the program by the end of the year. "EV charging infrastructure continues to grow in Denver," says Nissan EV Sales and Marketing Director Andrew Speaker, "and access to free public charging for new Leaf buyers helps make owning an all-electric vehicle even more cost-effective and convenient." Read more in the press release below. Wanxiang is investing $200 million in A123 Systems in order to double its lithium-ion battery production. The combined capacity of its three production facilities in Michigan, Hangzhou, China and Changzhou, China will increase from 750 megawatt-hours to 1.5 gigawatt-hours in the next three years. The increased capacity will help support customers building hybrids, passenger EVs, and commercial vehicles. Included in the expansion is the capacity to build 12-volt starter batteries and 48-volt microhybrid systems. "It's been a tremendous turnaround," says A123 CEO Jason Forcier, referring to the company's 2012 bankruptcy. Forcier also says the company is already planning another expansion when this one is complete. Read more at Automotive News, and in the press release from A123. The Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan is ordering 150 Zoe EVs from Renault. King Abdullah II of Jordan signed an agreement with Renault, who will deliver the cars by the end of the year. The cars will be powered completely by solar energy generated on royal property. The order of the 150 Zoes is the largest since 2013, and makes Renault the largest provider for Jordan's royal EV fleet. Renault says that further EV orders are already being discussed. Read more in the press release from Renault-Nissan. Beijing, China will exempt electric vehicles from its limits to vehicles on roads during rush hour. Current policy, designed to help alleviate traffic and air pollution, restricts cars with even and odd license plates from rush hour traffic on alternating days. The exemption for EVs runs from June 1, 2015 until April 10, 2016. It is the newest in the list of perks meant to encourage EV adoption, despite the troublesome lack of charging infrastructure. Read more at Green Car Reports.

Recharge Wrap-up: Formula E's other events, continued record EV sales

Formula E wants fans to know that it is more than just a race. During each ePrix weekend, the electric race series hosts a variety of events. For each race, Formula E sets up an eVillage where fans can meet drivers and get autographs, learn about electric vehicles, spectate Formula E's School Series races, enjoy live music and dance performances, play games, eat food and take part in numerous other activities that don't make their way into the television broadcast. Or course, though, the race is always the main event. See more in the video above. Electric vehicles enjoyed a fourth straight month of record sales in February. Despite low oil prices, customers bought an estimated 7,881 EVs last month, up 13 percent from a year before. 52 percent of those sales were battery electric vehicles, while the rest were plug-in hybrids. BMW i3 sales dropped 77 percent over a year ago, selling 248 cars. The Tesla Model S and Chevrolet Volt sold the most, while the Ford Fusion Energi outsold the Nissan Leaf for the first time. The Audi A3 E-Tron sold 248 units (same as the BMW i3) despite low inventory. Read more at Inside EVs. Renault more than doubled its EV sales in January compared to a year before. Sales were up 104 percent, at 1,886 units (1,977 if you include the Twizy). This January marked higher EV sales for Renault than the three previous years. The biggest selling Renault EV, which also happened to be Europe's best selling EV, was the Renault Zoe, up 105 percent at 1,416 units sold. Read more at Inside EVs. Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" promotion has expanded to Orlando, Florida. This is the 27th market in the US to offer free charging to Nissan Leaf customers. Buyers and lessees get two years of free charging with an EZ-Charge card, which works with AeroVironment, Blink, ChargePoint, Greenlots and NRG eVgo charging networks. "Significantly lower operating costs and a fun-to-drive nature make owning the all-electric Leaf a cost-effective and convenient choice for Orlando residents," says Nissan EV Sales & Marketing Director Andrew Speaker. Read more in the press release below. Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" program increases to 27 cities in the U.S. with the addition of Orlando Free public, electric vehicle charging now offered to new Nissan LEAF buyers in the Orlando metro area ORLANDO – Nissan's "No Charge to Charge" promotion has officially arrived to the Sunshine State.

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.