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Nissan Leaf sales up again in February, Chevy Volt dips deeper

Nissan managed to buck the industry's overall trend of lower sales in February with double-digit growth throughout its lineup. That includes a 12th month of record sales for the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle, with the year-over-year numbers up more than a skosh. The February ledger for the Chevy Volt looked much worse, falling 25.6 percent from February 2013 down to 1,210 units. With 1,425 Leafs sold, Nissan came away the winner in a head-to-head competition between these the two early plug-in vehicles for the fourth month in a row. Nissan expects the Leaf's sales momentum continue in March. February Leaf sales were up 118.2 percent, making 2014 the car's best February ever. The car was most popular in San Francisco, CA and Atlanta, GA, two places where the the brutal winter cold that struck most of the country had a limited effect. Nissan said that other markets with notable Leaf sales growth were Honolulu, HI, Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX and Denver, CO. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, said in a statement that Nissan, "amped up advertising in the latter half of February, which already has resulted in an uptick in sales and a significant increase in shopping traffic. We expect to see that momentum continue in March." The Volt retains an overall sales lead against the Leaf, but Chevy's calendar year-to-date sales numbers are down 23.1 percent so far in 2014. Overall, Chevy's sales calendar YTD numbers were down just 7.7 percent, so the Volt is performing below average. As always, we will have a more complete report of last month's green car sales up in short order. Green GM Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales

Nissan union wants French to stop meddling with Renault alliance

Nissan is getting some unexpected reinforcements in its ongoing battle with the French government over its involvement in Renault. Its Japanese union, which has traditionally been a very hands-off entity, issued harsh criticism for the French government's attempts to assert control over its alliance partner. According to Bloomberg, this is the first time in 16 years that Nissan's union has weighed on the company's affairs, and it's stating its position on the matter in no uncertain terms. The union called France's attempt at scoring double voting rights within Renault "unacceptable and against the intended spirit of the Alliance." "We support the numerous attempts of Nissan to engage with the French government to find a balanced and constructive solution that will benefit and strengthen the Alliance," the union said in a statement obtained by Reuters. It's unclear what impact the union speaking out will have on the current power struggle between Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn (shown above) and the French government, but we doubt it'll contribute to any quicker of a conclusion. Related Video: News Source: Reuters, BloombergImage Credit: Itsuo Inouye / AP Government/Legal Nissan Renault France renault-nissan alliance

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault-Nissan at COP21, fast charging viability

Nissan and Renault's combined fleet of 200 EVs drove over 175,000 kilometers (about 108,700 miles) during the COP21 environmental summit in Paris. The largest fleet of EVs for any international conference served as shuttles for attendees, saving almost 182 barrels of oil and 18 tons of CO2 emissions. In addition to providing the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, and Renault Zoe EV shuttles, the Renault-Nissan Alliance also set up a network of 90 chargers to support the fleet. 13 of the 27 quick and semi-quick chargers will remain in place for public use. Read more in the press release below.Siemens names Ann Arbor, Michigan for its first Center of Excellence for Intelligent Traffic Technology. The company will implement new and upgrade existing traffic technologies in the city, including cloud-based traffic management software, local controller software and an adaptive traffic control system designed to improve traffic flow and safety. In a college town with highly varying numbers of students and visitors throughout the year, "the need to move traffic in and out of the city efficiently is crucial not only for economic and environmental impacts, but for quality of life for Ann Arbor residents," says Marcus Welz, president of Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems. Many Ann Arborites (your author included) would surely agree. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the release from Siemens.A study in Ireland found that public fast charging could soon become commercially viable. The researchers found parking spots to be the most popular public charging locations, and that fast chargers saw the most frequent use, suggesting commercial viability for the infrastructure in the short- to medium-term. The study also found that most drivers prefer to charge at home, and do so during peak hours. Incentivization could be necessary to break people from this habit. Read more at Green Car Congress.