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Recharge Wrap-up: Renault EV movie, H2 fueling in Paris

Renault has debuted a new documentary called Le Peuple Electrique, or The Electric People. The film features two drivers touring France over the course of three weeks in a Renault Zoe electric vehicle. Along the way, the duo meet and come to rely upon other members of the EV driving community. Renault is showcasing the film at the COP21 summit in Paris to give an insight into the culture of electric vehicles. See the film above (it's in French), and read more in the press release from Renault.Nissan and Renault have joined forces for an ad campaign for their electric vehicles. The campaign, which focuses on the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, coincides with the COP21 environmental summit, for which the automakers have supplied 200 electric cars as shuttles for attendees. The ad campaign consists of press, posters, and a series of six videos, each 15 seconds in length, to be shown on social media networks in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. Read more from Renault.Air Liquide has announced a hydrogen fueling station for fuel cell taxis in Paris. Electric taxi company STEP plans to launch a fleet of at least 70 Hyundai ix35 (Tucson) Fuel Cell taxis in the next five years. The fueling station will be located at Cours Albert 1er near the Eiffel Tower, so this is truly in the heart of the city. "This first station will allow us to promote the benefits of hydrogen as a clean energy for vehicles with consumers," says Air Liquide's Francois Darchis. "Hydrogen offers a concrete solution to the challenges posed by the issue of sustainable mobility, reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as local pollution in urban areas." Read more from Air Liquide, or at Technologic Vehicles.The world's largest ultra-fast EV charging station is now operational in Beijing, China. Located at the Xiaoying Public Transit Bus Terminal, the station is capable of charging buses to 100 percent in as little as 10 minutes. It features 25 360-kW chargers and five 90-kW chargers, and enough space for 30 buses at a time. The buses come in to charge two or three times a day during their regular operation. Just in time, too. Read more in the press release below. World's Largest Ultra-fast EV Charging Station Goes Live in Beijing, Fully Charging Commercial Vehicles in 10 Minutes This 26,500 m(2) EV charging complex has 25 chargers at 360kW and 5 chargers at 90kW; maintaining a capacity for Ultra-fast charging 30 urban transit buses at the same time STAFFORD, Texas, Dec.

Investigators say Mitsubishi mpg scandal was 'collective failure'

Investigators hired by Mitsubishi Motors to probe why the Japanese automaker engaged in falsifying fuel-economy figures for the past quarter-century faulted the company's "corporate culture." Specifically, there was a lack of unity between divisions, company-wide pressure to boost fuel-efficiency numbers, and an unwillingness to accept fuel-economy shortfalls, Automotive News says, citing comments made by consultants who hired by the company to investigate the problems. Challenging management authority even if it was proper to do so was also frowned upon. One of the investigators called the scandal "a collective failure." Among other suggestions, the consultants recommended that Mitsubishi's vehicle-mileage certification be independent from research and development, that there's greater transparency overall, and that there's a more thorough understanding of laws. New shareholder Nissan may also invest in retooling Mitsubishi's R&D operations, and is sending one of its former executives, Mitsuhiko Yamashita, to Mitsubishi to try to prevent any sort of repeat problems. Mitsubishi joined a list of automakers including Volkswagen, Hyundai/Kia, and Ford that have been found in recent years to either mislead with its published fuel-efficiency figures or emissions-testing procedures. A Nissan spokesman declined to comment on the Mitsubishi report, according to Automotive News. The recommendation comes less than three months after the announcement that Nissan would help rescue Mitsubishi from its fuel-economy scandal by acquiring part of the company. Nissan agreed in May to pay $2.2 billion for a 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi, and said at the time that Mitsubishi would join the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Nissan also owns 15 percent of France-based Renault. That announcement came right after Mitsubishi's admission that it may have falsified fuel-economy data for every one of its vehicles made in Japan dating back to 1991. Related Video: News Source: Automotive NewsImage Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images Green Mitsubishi Nissan Fuel Efficiency scandal diesel scandal

Nissan working on bringing bizarro BladeGlider to dealerships?

It's a rare thing for pie-in-the-sky concepts to make production relatively unmolested. Edges are usually softened, mirrors made bigger and wheels shrunken into something that will be less backbreaking and easier to see out of on public roads. And while the essence of many concepts can still find their way into production, the wackier parts found in their concept forms often end up as nothing more than flights of fancy.
That makes news of the strange Nissan BladeGlider being considered for production rather interesting. You'll recall that the BladeGlider Concept debuted in November at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, featuring a McLaren-esque three-seat V layout, an electric drivetrain and a narrow front track like the DeltaWing and ZEOD RC. Understandably, perhaps, Nissan has been touting it as "reinventing the performance car." Everything about it screamed "concept."
Now comes word from Car in the UK that the car may actually make it to production. Quoting Nissan vice president Andy Palmer, "It's in our mid-term plan." "Our intention is to do it," he says. Now, Palmer has plenty of sway, but this should hardly be taken as an absolute confirmation that the triangle-shaped car would be coming. It is, however, a very promising sign. Palmer evidently sees the BladeGlider as a way to cajole young people into becoming car enthusiasts, which suggests Nissan might try to make it inexpensive. Alternatively, the BladeGlider could form the basis of a small-volume racecar, but it isn't clear what racing organization would have it.