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2014 Nissan Leaf price climbs $180 to $28,980*, Ghosn predicts sales doubling

A year ago, Nissan changed the fortunes of its all-electric Leaf in the US market by lopping a serious $6,400 off of the price. The entry-level 2012 Leaf started at $35,200, and the 2013 Leaf S instantly became a much better deal since it started at $28,800. For 2014, the trend is in the opposite direction, but only just. The 2014 Leaf S will start at $28,980. The other two trim levels will start at $32,000 for the SV and $35,020 for the SL. Oh well, we can't get a $6k drop every year, can we? What do you get for your extra $180? Well, as described in July, the 2014 model has the rear camera as standard and there is an available voice command navigation system and text message reader. We've got the full specification breakdown and pricing press release below. We doubt the small extra cost will do much to dent the Leaf's current sales upswing. December 2013 was the EV's best sales month ever, and a grand total of 22,610 units in 2013. That's more EVs than Nissan sold in 2011 and 2012 put together. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said earlier today that he thinks US Leaf sales will double, but didn't say when. "We are now on a trend of 3,000 cars a month in the US, which is about 36,000 cars" a year, Ghosn told Automotive News. "The next step is moving up to 4,000 a month, which is going to be approximately 50,000." The prices listed above do not include Nissan's $850 destination fee, but all Leaf EVs can qualify for the $7,500 federal income tax credit, as well as state and local incentives in some areas. NISSAN ANNOUNCES U.S. PRICING FOR 2014 LEAF™ NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 8, 2014) – Nissan today announced U.S. pricing for the 2014 Nissan LEAF™, which is on sale now at Nissan dealers nationwide. The 100 percent electric LEAF continues to offer outstanding value, with prices comparable to similar gasoline-powered vehicles after applicable tax credits. Sales of the zero emission LEAF in the U.S. and around the world set all-time records in 2013. The 2014 Nissan LEAF is available in three trim levels: LEAF S, SV and SL, along with option packages offering advanced systems such as Around View® Monitor and 7-speaker Bose® audio. Enhancements for 2014 include the addition of the RearView Monitor as standard equipment on all models (previously part of the Charge Package) and one new exterior color – Gun Metallic (seven total available colors).

Nissan Altima takes first V8 Supercars win

The V8 Supercars championship used to be strictly a contest between Holden and Ford. But just as BMW crashed the Audi and Mercedes party in DTM, so has Nissan (and for that matter, Mercedes) pushed past the door into Australia's popular touring car series. And like BMW, Nissan hasn't waited long before notching its first victory.
Nissan claimed the checkered flag this weekend in the first of three races at Winton, the ninth stop on the calendar. And what a spectacular win it was: not only did Nissan take the checkered flag, they finished one-two. James Moffat drove his Altima to the finish line just ahead of teammate Michael Caruso. It was Caruso who lead the first half of the race after qualifying just behind defending champion (and current points leader) Jamie Whincup, who suffered a gearbox malfunction and retired on only the ninth lap.
Of course that's just one race out of 27 so far and 37 scheduled this season, so that won't be elevating Nissan or any of its drivers to the lead the same way that BMW did upon its return last season to DTM, but it's a good start and a cause to celebrate for Nissan. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) and James Courtney (Holden) won the following two rounds at Winton as Jamie Whincup (Holden) leads Will Davison (Ford) in the standings.

Roller coaster or racecar, which pulls more Gs?

Looking for a thrill? You're not the only one. You'll find kindred spirits at airfields going up for a skydive, atop bridges and towers with bungees attached to their feet and standing in line for roller coasters at the local amusement park. But you'll also find them in the paddock at the racing circuit.
So what's the commonality? G-force. It's like gravity, only in each of these cases, it's experienced by human invention. But which activity subjects your body to the greatest amount of g-force? That's what Nissan set to find out.
Before putting them back in the cockpit, Nismo sent out two of its young hot-shoes - Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy - to an amusement park in the UK with a camera and a g-force meter to find out if any of the coasters could produce as much lateral gravitational force as an LMP2 racing car. See what they found in the pair of videos, below.