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Recharge Wrap-up: Shift to offer Teslas for Hire, Model S P85D beats Ferrari in drag race

A company called Shift plans to provide bikes and EVs for hire. Based in Las Vegas, NV, Shift will provide chauffeured ride services like Uber, but will also include a car- and bike-sharing service that delivers the desired wheels to the customer. Shift's fleet will include EVs like the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive and the Tesla Model S. Shift also promises that you will, "Be on your way within five minutes," which is a pretty tall order. Shift is scheduled to be available to members beginning this fall. Read more at The Car Connection. Nissan UK has confirmed the price of replacement batteries for the Leaf. UK drivers will be able to buy new batteries for 4,920 pounds (or about $7,738). That's considerably more than the price of $5,499 for US customers. Customers get 1,000 pounds back when they exchange their old battery. The original battery is covered under a five-year, 60,000-mile warranty, and most owners will never need to replace it. According to Nissan, only three replacement batteries have been sold out of 30,000 Leafs sold in Europe. Read more at Autocar. The Tesla Model S P85D walloped a Ferrari in an impromptu drag race video. The Ferrari driver pulls up alongside the Tesla and asks, "What you got in there?" before challenging him to a race. The Ferrari gets a head start, but the Tesla pulls out ahead quickly. The video also gets the reactions of some passengers to the car's mighty acceleration. See the video below and read the account of a drag race against a Lamborghini Aventador at Car Throttle. Australian website Drive has chosen their Cars of the Year in various categories. The Tesla Model S was a carryover winner for Luxury Car Over $80,000, but the Mercedes-Benz C200 narrowly overtook it to be crowned the overall winner. Regarding the Model S, one judge says, "This makes every other EV look at least a generation behind." The main thing that held the Tesla back from winning outright was the near-term lack of charging infrastructure. The judges did note Tesla's plans to build a network of Superchargers in Australia, but also pointed out that those plans exclude much of the country so far. See the video below and read more at Drive. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan Leaf top environmental performer, 50,000th Renault Zoe

Renault has produced its 50,000th Zoe electric car. A Frenchwoman named Sylvie took ownership of the milestone vehicle at the Flins plant where it rolled of the line. She says her children helped convince her to buy the all-electric vehicle, which Sylvie intends to use as a daily driver. The Renault Zoe is Europe's best selling EV since its launch in 2013. Renault reports a 98-percent satisfaction rate with the Zoe. Read more in the press release from Renault. Toyota will use a biosynthetic rubber called biohydrin in its engine and drive system hoses beginning in May 2016. Jointly developed by Toyota, biohydrin is a plant-based rubber with a 20-percent reduction in material lifecycle carbon emissions compared to petroleum-based rubber. Toyota plans to use the compound in even more components in the future, including brake and fuel line hoses. Read more from Toyota. So far in 2016, only 27.5 percent of hybrids and EVs are traded in for another electrified vehicle, according to Edmunds. That's down from 38.5 percent in 2015. 33.8 percent of electrified vehicles are traded in for SUVs. Despite the trend of EV and hybrid owners switching back to traditionally powered vehicles, average fuel economy isn't suffering. "This is an economics trend, since today's low cost of gas no longer makes it worth paying the price premium of hybrids and EVs," says Edmunds Director of Industry Analysis Jessica Caldwell. "And there are so many fuel-efficient vehicles on the market today that environmental concerns weigh less than they might have in years past. When you're buying a vehicle that can get over 30 mpg, you can still say you're doing your part to help the environment." Read more from Edmunds. Environmentally, electrified vehicles outperform their conventional combustion counterparts throughout their lifecycle. A study from the Automotive Science Group (ASG) finds that while production of advanced powertrains comes with a greater financial burden, most vehicles make up for it through efficiencies during their use phase. The ASG lists the 2016 Nissan Leaf as its best performer, with 47 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the best-performing conventionally powered car, the Honda Fit. Rounding out the ASG's top five environmental performers are the Ford Focus Electric, Chevrolet Volt, Toyota Prius Two Eco, and Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid.

In his own words: Carlos Ghosn on why EVs rule

That's a nice little dig at hydrogen fuel cell technology, Mr. Ghosn. The Nissan chief, long a champion and heavy-duty investor of electric-vehicle technology, wrote an essay on his LinkedIn Influencer page on why EVs are the theoretical wave of the future. It's obviously not an unbiased opinion, but he makes his points clearly. Ghosn points out that "refueling" costs per mile for EVs are about 70 percent less than gasoline and more than 60 percent less than hybrids. He cites the rapidly growing network of plug-in vehicle charging stations that are eliminating "range anxiety" with at least some folks, and notes that the fastest growing US plug-in vehicle market is, of all places, Atlanta. Additionally, Ghosn, near the bottom of the post, says that a plug-in vehicle charging station can be deployed for as little as $2,000, while building a hydrogen station costs about $2.5 million. Pretty clever. Nissan's sales numbers appear to give Ghosn's confidence some clout. Through November, sales of the Leaf in the US surged 35 percent from a year earlier to more than 27,000 units. Globally, Nissan says the Leaf's sales are up 20 percent this year. Check out Ghosn's own words below. Zero-Emission Cars: Both Consumers and the Environment Win Last month, the Renault-Nissan Alliance sold its 200,000th zero-emission car. The Nissan LEAF, which we launched four years ago, is by far the top-selling electric vehicle worldwide. Sales are up 20 percent this year. Together with the Renault ZOE and other zero-emission vehicles in our lineup, Renault-Nissan's EVs have been driven about 4 billion kilometers – enough to circle the earth 100,000 times. They are the world's first and most successful mainstream, mass-marketed EVs. Why are more people switching to EVs? The reasons are clear: EVs are convenient: They can be refueled at home or at the office from multiple energy sources, including the increasing amount of clean energy from solar or wind power. Imagine never stopping at a gasoline service station because you wake up to a "full tank" every day. This is one of the top things EV owners enjoy about their cars. EVs are economical: Even with gasoline prices falling, Consumer Reports recently estimated operating costs of a Nissan LEAF in the United States at 3.5 cents a mile, compared with 11.9 cents for a subcompact gasoline car or 8.6 cents for a hybrid. EV owners typically save on their insurance policies, because insurers view EV drivers as a lower risk.