2012 Nissan Maxima Sv, Monitor Package, Sunroof, Bluetooth, 14454 Miles on 2040-cars

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Nissan: We lose money on each Leaf replacement battery

Nissan has been playing its cards pretty close to its chest when it comes to the production costs for Leaf battery packs. The company recently put a price on replacement batteries for customers at $5,500 plus the requirement to return the old battery. If the decommissioned battery is worth $1,000 to Nissan, as they have stated, that means the battery costs about $6,500 to make, right? Maybe even less if Nissan wants to turn a profit, as automakers are wont to do? Wrong.
Green Car Reports spoke to Nissan about these battery costs, and found that the automaker actually loses money on selling the replacement battery for the Leaf at the current price. Jeff Kuhlman, Nissan's vice president of global communications said, "Nissan makes zero margin on the replacement program. In fact, we subvent every exchange." All you English majors will know that "subvent" is a fancy way to say "subsidize." Kuhlman added, though, "We have yet to sell one battery as part of the program."
The fact that Nissan offers its replacement batteries for less than it costs to manufacture them is telling of a company both cares about what its customer needs and is dedicated to the success of its product. In this case, both of those things encourage people to give up fossil fuels and adopt electric mobility, which is heartening. As more people switch to battery-powered driving, though, battery technology should become better and cheaper, and the scale of production should cause manufacturing costs to decrease. Eventually, Nissan could easily see itself breaking even selling the Leaf battery replacements.

Dongfeng-Nissan surprises with Viwa Concept EV for Venucia

Nissan has a joint venture in China with Dongfeng to make passenger vehicles, and last year the two companies created a sub-brand called Venucia that aims to roll out five cars by 2015. With the gasoline-engined D50 and R50 and a pilot program for the E30 electric car already out, this little orange beast, the Viwa EV concept, could point the way to a future offering.
Looking like a Chevrolet Spark that spent the weekend raving in Ibiza, the Venucia Viwa EV aims to be reliable, practical, efficient and accessible all in one package. Beyond the practical bit, defined as, "packaged with a compact body for easy driving," Venucia hasn't said how any of those other qualities are achieved. In fact, it hasn't even divulged the specifics of the electric powerplant. However, it does say that it will be developing more EVs under the guide of "China's new energy vehicle policy."
You can get a little more info about it in the press release below, or discover the little peach in the high-res gallery above.

Massive Airbag Recall Affects Seven Automakers

The recall of faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata has exploded today to grow to seven automakers. In most cases, only models in certain high-humidity regions were affected because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found in its investigation that moisture played a role in determining whether there would be a problem. However, some companies opted for national campaigns. The exact number of affected models for these campaigns isn't yet known at this time. BMW is recalling an undisclosed number of 325i, 325Xi, 330i and 330Xi models from the 2001 through 2005 model years and the 2001-2006 model year versions of the 325Ci and 330Ci for the driver side and passenger side inflators. Only vehicles currently registered in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands are covered under this recall. Neither Chrysler's filing with NHTSA nor its press release list the specific models affected, but a company spokesperson told Autoblog that at this time it only covers the driver and passenger side inflators for the 2006 Dodge Charger in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands In most cases, only models in certain high-humidity regions were affected because the NHTSA found that moisture played a roll in determining if there would be a problem. Ford is recalling an estimated 58,669 cars that include the 2005-2006 model years of the Ford GT for the driver and passenger inflators, the 2007-2007 model years of the Mustang for the driver side and 2004 Ranger for the passenger side. It covers vehicles originally sold or currently registered in, wait for it... Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands. Honda is issuing three separate recalls regarding the problem. First, the company is recalling the 2002-2003 model years Civic, CR-V and Odyssey and the 2003 model year of the Accord, Element, Pilot and Acura MDX to replace the passenger's side inflator. This covers all models nationwide. Second, Honda is repairing the passenger's side airbag inflator in the 2003-2005 Accord, Civic, CR-V, Element, Pilot, the 2003-2004 model year versions of the Odyssey, the 2003-2005 model year Acura MDX and 2005 Acura RL. However, only for vehicles located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Owners will be notified in July. Finally, Honda is separately replacing some models' driver's side inflators.