2004 Nissan Xterra Xe on 2040-cars

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2016 April Fools' Day: Morgan digs at Tesla, Mini's scissor doors, more

Every year automakers go out of their way to come up with gags for April Fools' Day. Sometimes the jokes fall flat, but occasionally a company really nails it with an idea that we'd actually love to see. Rather than scouring the Web for all of these stunts, you can find some of our favorites right here. Morgan MOGrod The Morgan Motor Company's MOGrod is one of our favorite April Fools' jokes so far this year because it's a car we wish could be real. The company says on Twitter that the retro hot rod uses a 3.7-liter Ford V6, and there are already 250,000 preorders, which is a play on the huge number of reservations for the Tesla Model 3. Morgan took the joke even further by sketching a landspeed record version for the Bonneville Salt Flats. Mini Scissor Doors The people at Mini apparently have a lot of free time because the company has two gags this year. The first is the scissor door option. The idea cleverly plays on the myriad ways customers can customize their Mini, but this solution doesn't look like anyone could easily enter the car due to the way these doors open. Mini Hipster Hatch There's also the Hipster Mini, which is a much funnier idea. This fictional hatchback would be perfect for fashionable Millennials thanks to features like Instagram-filter windows and a fixed-gear drivetrain, which limits the top speed to 25 miles per hour. The interior uses stonewash denim upholstery and packs a twin-deck cassette player. Skoda Dog Umbrella People love dogs, and owners know that a wet canine can be a mess. Skoda is ready to tackle this problem with an umbrella for your mutt. Made from unobtainium, the gadget hides in the door when not in use, but when raindrops start falling, people can keep their pup dry. Skoda Snowman Skoda's Facebook page also teases us with a very cool vehicle. The Snowman is a 396-horsepower plug-in hybrid snow machine. With its tracks, the company's newest model would never have to worry about getting stuck in the winter. Opel Adam C Sure, electricity and hydrogen are cleaner forms of fuel than gasoline or diesel, but Opel has a way to make your car even more environmentally friendly – muscle power. Wind up the crank at the rear for 15 minutes, and the Opel Adam C is good for 125 miles. GM's European division also claims that owners get a great workout because a full winding session burns 400 calories. You wouldn't feel guilty about picking up that pizza after cranking up this hatchback.

2015 Nissan Versa Sedan continues to prioritize space and price over looks

Nissan's refresh of its cavernous Versa Sedan is on hand today at the 2014 New York Auto Show. While we continue to appreciate the Versa for its space and low price, this slight restyling of the four-door sedan hasn't done much for its uninspiring appearance.
Newly enlarged headlights and a reworked, more Altima-like grille are the biggest changes to the front of this Versa, although Nissan has also added some brightwork around the revised foglight housings. Integrated turn signals liven up the mirrors, while the rear of the car wears a new and almost strangely sporty bumper.
Perhaps more importantly for prospective owners, Nissan has also made a few interior tweaks, with a new steering wheel and a revised center stack leading the change. There's some new available tech on the top-end SL model, as well.

Carlos Ghosn brings Nissan Leaf EV to happy nation of Bhutan

The Nissan Leaf has been declared the cleanest car in the US, and it's going to have a good case to claim the same title in Bhutan. Yes, Bhutan, the country famous for measuring Gross National Happiness is about to get serious about the EV Grin. Last December, we learned that Bhutan's capital city, Thimphu, wanted to build up a Leaf taxi fleet. That's when Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn went to Bhutan to talk about the project and he has recently returned to deliver some vehicles to the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, who has been advocating for EVs since taking office in July and has set a preliminary target of 2,000 EVs on the streets of Thimphu. Tobgay said his country, "will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date." It's not an outrageous goal for the Himalayan country, since it generates a lot of hydro-electric power, way more than it can use. There are only around 750,000 citizens of Bhutan and they only use five percent of the clean power made within its borders. Most of the rest goes to neighbor India. The problem, as expressed in Nissan's press release (available below), is that Bhutan takes "almost all of the revenue earned from selling electricity" to buy fossil fuel from India and power its national vehicle fleet. You can probably see how making the switch to EVs can simplify and clean things all around. There's a video of Ghosn's Bhutan trip below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Nissan Partners with Bhutan on National EV Strategy Feb. 21 – Thimphu, Bhutan – An electric revolution has begun in Bhutan. The remote Himalayan country, renowned for championing "Gross National Happiness," has taken first steps towards becoming a leading global electric-vehicle nation. Prime Ministers of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced a partnership in Thimphu Friday, which will see both parties work toward achieving Bhutan's ambitious clean-energy goals. "We will develop a program, we will commit to a program to achieve zero emissions as a nation by a certain target date," said Tobgay who has backed the EV project since taking office in July last year.