The 2013 Nissan Leaf has finally been given official stats from the EPA, improving slightly over last year’s model with an estimated range of 75 miles and a combined MPGe rating of 115.

To achieve the boost in range, Nissan worked with aerodynamics, along with providing a wider range of regenerative braking and new energy management systems. Nissan has also improved charging times by fitting an on-board 6.6 kW charger that puts 220V charging time at around four hours.

Compared to the 2012 model, the Leaf has gained 2 miles of overall distance, and 16 MPGe of combined efficiency, but that’s not the whole story.

“For 2013, the EPA elected to use an average of Leaf’s two charging modes to generate the range calculation for the window label an 80 percent ‘Long Life Battery Mode’ and a 100 percent ‘Long Distance Modes,’” Brian Brockman, senior manager of Nissan Corporate Communications told Hybrid Cars. “In the past, the Monroney label displayed range based only on a fully charged battery.”

So the 75-mile range is actually an average between the 80 percent charge range and the 100 percent charge range. On a full battery, the EPA says the 2013 Leaf is capable of about 83 miles. If the test procedures had of stayed the same, the 2013 Leaf would have a full 14 percent more range than the 2012 model.

GALLERY: 2013 Nissan Leaf

[Source: Hybrid Cars]

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Almost two and a half years after the Nissan Leaf went on sale, the little electric car can count 25,000 sales in the U.S.

“With more than 25,000 LEAFs in the U.S. and 62,000 around the world, we’re seeing the adoption curve for EVs accelerate, and there is tremendous interest not only on the West Coast but in a number of new strongholds like Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis and many more,” Erik Gottfried, Nissan director of EV marketing and sales strategy said.

This year, and especially last month, Nissan reported strong sales increases for the Leaf. Those rising numbers can be most readily attributed to the huge price cut that came with the 2013 model year. But those numbers weren’t always gaining as rapidly as this year. Nissan originally planned to sell 10,000 of its pure electric cars annually, but fell short of that goal.

“We’ve also learned how infrastructure plays a role in a consumer’s decision to go all-electric,”  Brendan Jones Nissan director of EV infrastructure strategy and deployment said. “We already knew that areas with a higher concentration of EVs would require more charging stations, but trends show that the reverse is also true—a more robust charging infrastructure generates greater interest in EVs and stimulates more EV driving among EV owners.”

That charging infrastructure is still extremely limited and dwarfed by the number of gas stations. Earlier this year, the brand announced a commitment to triple the number of quick chargers in the U.S. from 200 to  600.

General Motors announced today that it will begin selling a small cargo van based on heavily on Nissan’s NV200.

The van will be called the Chevrolet City Express and will be available in fall, 2014 as a 2015 model year.

“Our fleet customers have asked us for an entry in the commercial small van segment, so this addition to the Chevrolet portfolio will strengthen our position with fleets and our commercial customers,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of GM Fleet and Commercial Sales.

The move marks further proliferation within in the U.S. market for Nissan’s cargo van. Soon, it will begin appearing in yellow en masse as New York City’s official taxi cab.

GM said pricing will be announced later.

With US sales number disappointing, Nissan CEO Charles Ghosn is aiming to double the brands sales in the country two-fold by 2017.

Key moves for the company include increasing the number of dealerships, doubling per-store sales and improving marketing for fast-growing demographic groups.

While the company did see increases in sales this past year, they were just not up to the standard that Ghosn was expecting.

“China was not our biggest, disappointment. It was mainly the United States. We were expecting a strong year in the United States. It didn’t happen,” said Ghosn last week following the announcement of the automakers annual results.

The company is aiming to smooth out production issues, resulting in stronger launches of new products. Nissan has fixed bottlenecks in supply and in product development, although the Sentra compact sedan is already backlogged, and additional production capacity might not come until 2014.

In regards to targeting growing demographics, Nissan is looking at Asians, Hispanics and African Americans, who are wielding more buying power.

[Source Autocar]

The Nissan DeltaWing partnership may have been discontinued, but that hasn’t stopped the Japanese automaker from bringing a new race car to life.

Ben Bowlby, the man who designed the DeltaWing, will once again design the next hybrid race car for Nissan, which will be competing in the 2014 Le Mans 24-hour race as a “Garage 56″ entry. Garage 56 entries are reserved for cars that showcase alternative energy.

SEE ALSO: Nissan, DeltaWing Project Partnership Discontinued

The project will be overseen by Ray Mallock’s RML operation, which also had its hands in the DeltaWing project. The new hybrid race car will be capable of running solely on electric power for short periods though the final configuration of the drivetrain is still being discussed, according to Andy Palmer of Nissan.

Though it won’t be the DeltaWing all over again, Palmer did say that it’ll be “as visually arresting as the DeltaWing.”

[Source: Autocar UK]

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Do you remember the “ooga” horn sound cartoon characters used to make when they saw something shocking?

If you want to create a similar reaction, in real life, tell any Dodge, Ford or GM truckophile that you’re planning to buy a new Nissan Titan.

For the most part, their arguments will be well grounded. Nissan first sold the truck nearly a decade ago and has done little to update it since then.

People who belong in a truck, who really belong in a truck, are better off looking elsewhere. Work horses from the Detroit 3 stables beat it in almost every conceivable category.

Everyone — Nissan included — knows the Titan is getting by these days on Geritol and tanks worth of liquid Aleve.  That’s why the brand poached Frank Diaz: the man largely credited with getting the Ram in a position to brag about “guts and glory” on TV.

There could be something big brewing in Nissan’s truck division, but only time will tell. Given all that, this week’s Five-Point Inspection is dedicated to finding a few small things to like about the Titan.

Nissan’s Leaf electric car earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick” designation, falling short of the group’s highest mark.

That might seem counterintuitive to people unfamiliar with the IIHS ratings, which were amended last year to include a “Top Safety Pick Plus” category. The Leaf earned the best-possible “good” rating in the front, side and rollover crash tests, but the electric car wasn’t tested in the newest “small overlap” category. Without that test, the Leaf can’t claim the higher rating.

2012 Nissan Leaf Review – Video

Sales for the Nissan Leaf climbed this year on the shoulders of a vastly reduced price over the 2012 model year to outpace the Chevrolet Volt.

Sometimes automakers have holes in their line-up bigger than Van Halen did in 1985. Due to a lack of time, resources or manufacturing facilities, the company looks for a quick fix. The solution? Grab a vehicle from another company that fills the void and rebrand it as their own. But like Wade Boggs in a New York Yankees uniform, these rebadged vehicles never look quite right. And, like any decision made by cobbling together bits and pieces from here and there, it doesn’t always work.

In the world of rebadging, Australian General Motors division Holden is king. The company will rebadge anything and everything for the Australian market. Since Holden could have a top ten list entirely their own, we’ll skip them. Instead, let’s focus on vehicles most in North America will recognise in either current or rebadged form. We are not talking platform engineered cars within a company or ones co-developed between two companies, but rather vehicle rebrand jobs that seem to come out of left field and are thinly disguised.

Nissan is taking aim at Europe’s five-door hatchback segment next year to take on the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf.

Part of a bid to bolster its presence back into mainstream territory, the car will be designed exclusively for Europe and built in Nissan’s Barcelona plant according to AutoCar.

After auctioning off the first gold Nissan GT-R for $193,000 with the proceeds benefitting Usain Bolt’s charity, the Japanese automaker has handed the keys to a brand new 2014 Nissan GT-R for Mr. Bolt to enjoy himself.

Known as “the world’s fastest man,” Usain Bolt has been promoting brand awareness for Nissan and already owns a GT-R. Now he has a second one in a special “Bolt Gold” finish. The GT-R has also been customized to fit Bolt’s driving style, based on data Nissan engineers gathered when he test-drove the GT-R lineup at the automaker’s headquarters last October.

SEE ALSO: Usain Bolt’s Gold GT-R Crowns Nissan Booth: 2013 Detroit Auto Show

Contrasting the flashy gold exterior is a white interior, while the hyper-titanium shaded wheels add a bit of extra flair to the aesthetics. A subtle touch includes an exclusive “Spec Bolt” emblem on the body of the vehicle. The interior color, exterior color, and all of the vehicle’s accessories were selected by Bolt himself.

The handover took place on May 5, 2013 in Jamaica at Bolt’s home training facility.

GALLERY: Usain Bolt’s Gold 2014 Nissan GT-R

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Hybrid technology is improving at an impressive rate and is continuing to find its way into more and more vehicles.

A significant number of new and exciting hybrids are coming to market this year and early next. No, these aren’t all Prius wannabes. There are some interesting cars on the way, like the ultra efficient VW XL1 seen above. Check out some of these hybrid luxury sedans, rugged crossovers and even a pair of supercars.

If you’re not yet convinced to hop on the hybrid bandwagon, this should help. And if you already are, but haven’t found the right gas-electric vehicle for you, perhaps it’s coming soon to a dealership near you.

The Nissan Leaf enjoyed a second month of strong sales while the Chevrolet Volt fell 11 percent in April.

In April, Volt sales fell to 1,306 overall sales are up just 3.2 percent for the year. Leaf sales on the other hand has increased 420 percent over last April to 1,937. Despite the strong April, March was much better for the Leaf, when it moved 2,236 units.

SEE ALSO: 2013 Nissan Leaf Revealed with Improved Efficiency

This year, Nissan lowered the price of its base-model Leaf by 18 percent to $28,800, undoubtedly helping it increase sales the last couple of months. Leaf sales remain a disappointment for the Japanese automaker.

GM North American President Mark Reuss admitted last month that the Leaf’s price cut has impacted Volt sales. But the American automaker is making no excuses for the Volt’s drop in sales.

Both automakers agree on one thing though: there’s a lot of interest in EVs, just not enough buyers.

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