Happy Earth Day Earthings… We have several news stories that relate to green cars. It is really important to remember that for every gallon of gas you burn, you put 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere that contributes to global warming. Nissan announced the e-NV200 and won an award from the EPA. Kelly Blue Book recommends some great plugin hybrid cars.
Nissan e-Power for the Planet
Nissan plans to launch three new electric vehicles and five e-POWER models in Japan by the end of fiscal 2022, the company announced today.
Nissan expects electric vehicles and e-POWER models to make up 40% of sales in Japan by the end of the company’s 2022 fiscal year. By fiscal 2025, Nissan expects half of the vehicles it sells to be electric or e-POWER models.
Speaking in Yokohama, Daniele Schillaci, Nissan’s executive vice president for global marketing and sales, zero-emission vehicles and the battery business and chairman of the Management Committee for Japan/Asia & Oceania, said: “As our domestic market, we are proud that Japan is leading the way forward when it comes to Nissan Intelligent Mobility. This vision is changing the customer experience by delivering technologies and services that are making their lives better and also enabling steady profitable growth through Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022.”
The Nissan Intelligent Mobility vision will also have an expanded footprint throughout the company’s dealerships. Nissan will develop a new store format centered around the customer shopping area and build new walk-in stores and brand experience stores that give customers the Nissan Intelligent Mobility experience.
Every step of the car-buying process will be increasingly digitalized, from initial purchase consideration to aftersales. Moving away from a conventional, fragmented service model, Nissan will create one that provides customers the service they need, when they need it.//
Nissan began taking orders for its newly improved Nissan e-NV200 electric commercial vehicle, featuring a higher-capacity battery that offers longer range and battery life. Deliveries of the vehicle will begin in Japan in December.
The Nissan e-NV200 features a new 40 kilowatt-hour battery, which gives the vehicle a range of 300 kilometers under Japan’s JC08 standard. It combines excellent load capacity and a driver-friendly cabin with brisk acceleration and a superior quietness that only a pure electric vehicle can offer.
The new e-NV200 can also operate as a mobile power storage unit. The vehicle’s Power Plug, a 100-volt outlet, can provide electricity for tools and equipment. With the optional EV Power Station installed, the Nissan e-NV200 can even supply electricity to offices and shops and serve as a backup power source during blackouts and emergencies.
EPA Award for Nissan NA
Nissan North America has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the 2018 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award, the highest honor given to organizations dedicated to protecting the environment by making their operations more energy efficient.
This marks the seventh consecutive year EPA has recognized Nissan for its continued commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy management at its U.S. facilities.
Nissan’s efforts to reduce energy usage include switching to more efficient technologies like LED lighting, engaging all employees in energy management, and including energy efficiency in design, such as an environmentally friendly paint process that has cut energy usage by more than 30%.
Nissan manufacturing operations in the U.S. include the Nissan Vehicle Assembly Plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, which was the largest producing automotive assembly plant in North America each of the last four years. This facility and Nissan’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, also were recently awarded ENERGY STAR® Certification for the 12th year in a row, cementing Nissan’s spot among the top 25% of the automotive manufacturing industry for superior energy management.
The 2018 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards are bestowed upon companies and other organizations demonstrating continued leadership in energy efficiency and commitment to the ENERGY STAR program. Winners hail from small, family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 organizations – representing energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial and public sectors.
Best Green Cars from KBB
In time for Earth Day, the expert editors at Kelley Blue Book evaluated four plug-in hybrids on the market today, the Chevrolet Volt, Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid and Toyota Prius Prime, in a real-life comparison, including a long-distance road trip from the busy Los Angeles freeways to Northern California.
2018 Chevrolet Volt
The Chevy Volt entered its second generation in 2016 and became the better for it. It gained range in both all-electric driving (53 miles) and total distance, five-passenger seating versus the previous four, enhanced technology such as an infotainment system ready for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a sleek new design. In all-electric mode, the Volt has the satisfying acceleration associated with an electric vehicle (EV). Mash the throttle and Chevy’s plug-in electric vehicle scoots.
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In
While its styling is admittedly quirky, the Clarity is much like any other sedan in most ways, but with the added bonus of 48 miles of electric-only driving. That’s why we named the 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV a 2018 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award winner in the Electric/Hybrid Car category. The nicely appointed interior uses attractive, quality materials, and the controls are well laid out and within easy reach. The Clarity has a comfortable ride, which adds to the car’s pleasant demeanor on the highway.
2018 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid
The 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid stands tall as the most everyday car in this test. From a practical plug-in-hybrid point of view, the gasoline/electric PHEV version of the Ioniq got fan notes from every driver in our test. It has value due to low price. Standard features at that price include body-color exterior trim pieces — including heated outside mirrors — and a gift basket of interior features like heated front seats, a rearview camera, and dual-zone climate control. For the media junkies, a 7-inch touch-screen display and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto are also included.
2018 Toyota Prius Prime
Toyota’s second crack at a plug-in hybrid in its pioneering Prius lineup brings enough differentiation in both styling and performance to warrant a serious look at this vehicle for those who want the best of both the pure electric and hybrid worlds. While the 2018 Toyota Prius Prime doesn’t have the same all-electric range as its archrival Chevrolet Volt, it does offer 25 miles of pure EV mode, plus an impressive 54 mpg EPA combined fuel-economy rating when it’s running as a conventional hybrid (the agency gives it a 133 MPGe rating when both modes are combined). On our road trip, the Prius Prime went more than 475 miles on a single tank with an overall mpg of 54.3 mpg.