Nissan has confirmed that the e-NV200 all-electric van will begin production in Barcelona, Spain in early 2013. 

The announcement coincides with Nissan’s plans to offer four all-electric models by 2015, and will be the second EV in the companies fleet, joining the Nissan Leaf. We first saw the e-NV200 at the Detroit Auto Show, where it debuted as a concept vehicle.

The power source of the e-NV200 was not specified by the company, although it is supposed to garner a range very close to that of the Leaf. Most of the technology and drive-train will most definitley be sourced directly from the Leaf, with some retrofitting needing to be done to fit the e-NV200′s larger size.

Nissan is putting up a $51 million investment to ready the Spanish plant for the task of building the electric van, as this will be the only production facility in the world putting together the e-NV200. The plant expansion will also add 700 new jobs to the facility.

Delivery companies are the focus of e-NV200, as Nissan envisions its electric van as the perfect vehicle for inner city drop offs, but also makes sure to stress that all that cargo space is good for the kids and dog as well. “Crucially, it will also offer class-leading running and maintenance costs which makes it an exceptionally attractive proposition to both businesses and families,” said Andy Palmer, Nissan Executive Vice President.

Although the Leaf has not had the greatest sales number, Nissan is staying true to the plan of investing in electric vehicle technology, which may or may not pay off for them in the future.

Along with concerns like range anxiety, many potential electric car buyers express concerns about high voltage electric shocks.

With the Nissan Leaf being an entirely new type of vehicle, before it came to market engineers sat down and postulated all the possible “what ifs” of things that could go wrong, making sure to test the electric car in new ways never even dreamed of before.

“What are the dangers for an electric vehicle? What kind of tests should be done? We had to really find out through feeling our way,” says Kouji Tanaka the man in charge of the EV Safety Protection Project Technical Development team for the Leaf.

Engineers tallied up a list of possible scenarios that owners might experience during real world ownership, ranging from what might happen if their dog chewed the charge cord, to what would happen if a woman charged the car wearing a conductive necklace. Other scenarios included adding conductive liquid to the seat belt, pouring water over the charge port while plugging it in, and driving the Leaf through deep water at speed.

In total over 1,000 different test cases were dreamed up before engineers got to work acting out the most likely hypothetical situations.

Making the task more complex was the time schedule that the Leaf was under in order to make it to market. In fact, rather than perform tests on a test car, Tanaka and his team were working alongside the engineers who built the car.

Helping get the Leaf out on time and meeting all of the safety requirements earned Tanaka Nissan’s COO Award, the highest honor the company gives among its 28,000 employees.

For more on just how different the testing method for the Leaf was, watch the video below:

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Toyota continues to enjoy success with its Prius family of models, as its plug-in hybrid sold 1,654 units in the month of April.

The sales figure trumps its main competitors, the Chevrolet Volt (1,462 sold) and the Nissan Leaf (370 sold) making it the most popular plug-in vehicle last month in America. It’s no huge surprise that the plug-in variant of the Prius is selling well compared to its counterparts, considering how well-known the Prius moniker has become over the years.

Last month the Japanese automaker also saw the highest sales total for its Prius models ever for the month of April, moving a combined figure of 25,168 units across all its model variants. In total, Toyota sold 30,126 hybrids while its luxury division Lexus moved a respectable 2,467. Compared to April 2011, Toyota’s hybrid sales saw a huge jump of 124.6 percent, but it’s worth noting that April 2011 was also after the disastrous tsunami that hindered vehicle production.

“Thanks to continued strong sales of Camry and Prius family, Toyota was America’s number one retail brand for the second straight month,” said Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “With consumer confidence improving, we expect to see sustained industry growth in the months ahead.”

The all electric Nissan Leaf is trying to become a practical and viable option to compete with the gasoline engine, and Nissan is providing infrastructure to help make the transition smooth for consumers.

Partnering with the non-profit company Adopt a Charger, Nissan is sponsoring 15 EV chargers that are available for public use. There are two locations where the Nissan chargers can be found, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and in San Francisco at the Music Concourse Garage in Golden Gate Park. Both of these sites were reviewed before hand and selected thanks to their high concentration of EVs that visit every day.

“Working with Adopt a Charger, we’re providing this community service in an effort to increase electric vehicle acceptance and make ownership more convenient by helping ensure chargers are available in high-traffic areas,” said Jon Brancheau, the VP of Nissan Marketing.

So if you are in San Francisco or L.A., looking for some free electricity for you Nissan Leaf or other EV, you know where to go.

Watch the video below explaining the partnership.

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Prices might be falling soon on the cost to produce electric vehicles, which means (hopefully) that the MSRP will fall soon as well.

A new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows the cost of lithium ion batteries falling 14 percent over this time last year. Furthermore, prices took a 30 percent swan dive since 2009.

“Batteries are one of the biggest drivers of the cost of electric vehicles, and hence of their uptake. A sharp decline in price may be unwelcome for battery manufacturers, but it is essential for the long-term health of the sector,” Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.

The battery packs that go into EVs make up about 25 percent of the assembly cost, so a drop in the component’s price could be an indication that prices will fall on EVs soon too. Those costs are falling thanks to an oversupply of the material and lackluster demand for the actual cars.

Range-wary consumers who are reluctant to pay $35,200 for a Nissan Leaf when there are plenty of efficient alternatives as a lower initial cost are proving that electric cars will be a tough sell, though that might change if costs continue to decline and automakers are able to sell EVs for less.

Gasoline-powered cars are slowly starting to look like pirates plundering the world for fuel and slashing environmental throats as they go. Thanks to that, the fair maiden electric vehicles with zero-emissions claims and low-cost fueling can easily float in on the smog cloud looking squeaky-clean. But are they?

A new study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) sheds light on the carbon footprint, or lack thereof, that electric vehicles have. The 60-page document goes in-depth to reveal pollution produced by recharging cars like the Nissan Leaf and the differences in cost to refuel an average gasoline-powered compact car versus charging a pure EV.

It’s true that driving an EV will almost certainly save drivers money “at the pump:” The study shows that drivers save up to $1,200 dollars annually by driving a Nissan Leaf. It also makes some basic assumptions to justify those numbers: first, that compact cars get an average of 27 mpg, second that efficient hybrids get 50 mpg, based on EPA ratings and third, gas costs $3.50 per-gallon. Those standardizations allow for the aforementioned comparison and cost savings statement.

Saving money is great, but the study isn’t solely concerned with annual fuel cost of ownership. A large portion of the UCS’ report discusses the carbon footprint produced by EVs, something people willing to suffer through range anxiety and planned charging sessions are almost invariably conscious of.

It turns out that EVs save money across the board, but can also create more greenhouse gas emissions than a traditional gas-burning car. How can this be possible?

We spoke to Don Anair, the study’s author, and he said 45 percent of the U.S. population lives under a power grid clean enough to best a Toyota Prius’ 50 mpg rating. In other words, for more than half of Americans, it’s actually less harmful to drive a Prius ($24,000 to start), which is more than $10,000 cheaper than a Nissan Leaf. Believe it or not, there are actually parts of the country where sub-compact cars are easier on emissions than an EV, here’s why.

American power plant processes aren’t uniform, and the power produced within create varying levels of greenhouse gas emissions. A table in the UCS document actually shows that less than a third of American electricity grid regions generate enough green energy to best the Toyota Prius’ 50 mpg average economy.

The study boils down to two things: cost to drive and cost to the environment. It demonstrates that they are two entirely different issues and that buying an EV doesn’t necessarily save the environment. In fact, on the country’s “dirtiest” energy grid it’s actually less harmful to drive a 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI than a Nissan Leaf.

Anair did also point out that only 18 percent of the population lives in an area where coal-generated electricity is prominent enough to make EVs less efficient than a sub-compact.

[Source: Union of Concerned Scientists]

In its continued effort to spread the message of the all-electric Leaf, Nissan has partnered up with Fleet Forum and is providing five vehicles for a year for free.

Fleet Forum manages vehicle fleets for foreign aids and charitable organizations, such as Red Cross and the UN World Food Programme, and will take the Leaf EVs from Nissan and distribute them among five of their charities.

The charities that will benefit from this program this year are: United Nations World Food Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees, Islamic Relief, and the United Nations Logistics Base.

This program will not only show the viability of electric vehicles in different applications around the world, but also reduce the environmental impact and reduce costs.

“This is an excellent example of learning through demonstration,” says Paul Jansen, Executive Director of Fleet Forum. “Through this programme these different organisations can see for themselves how electric vehicles can be used to help achieve their objectives. From a Fleet Forum point-of-view we’re happy to facilitate this as a way of increasing efficiency and reducing pollution.”

Jansen goes on to say, “The partnership with Nissan fits perfectly with Fleet Forum’s commitment to offer our members practical knowledge and experience of transport-related products and services. The participating members will benefit directly, but in the end all members will benefit. Together with Nissan we will gather and analyze the test data. We will build knowledge regarding electric driving, and we can advise our members how to maximize the best use of electric vehicles. Fleet Forum promotes electric driving because this is a very constructive way of reducing the environmental impact of the operational activities of Fleet Forum members.”

The first two cars will be handed over to the chosen organizations in a ceremony in Geneva. These cars will be used in Switzerland.

The Leaf is one of the few all-electric vehicles on sale anywhere in the world. It has a range of just over 100-miles on a full-charge and sells for a base price of $35,200.

Ford recently announced the EPA fuel efficiency rating for its electric Focus model. Since it doesn’t burn any gasoline, the number isn’t in miles per gallon (MPG), but was given as miles per gallon gasoline equivalent, or MPGe. A new term to the automotive lexicon, it’s worth exploring exactly what MPGe means and how an MPGe rating is determined, especially as the number of electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids on the roads continues to increase.

Why use MPGe?

In order to compare the fuel efficiency of various vehicles, MPGe had to be introduced. The rating first came into use with the fully electric Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, which offers a plug-in option to deliver anywhere from 25 to 40 miles of electric range before the gasoline engine kicks in to charge the car’s batteries, which continue to power the electric motor and the wheels.

Since electric vehicles don’t use gas, the traditional miles per gallon measurement wouldn’t make much sense. The most appropriate measurement would be Kilowatt Hours (kWh) since that’s the way electricity usage in houses is measured. However, using kWh makes it difficult to compare electric cars to non-electric cars. That’s why MPGe was created, to be able to compare the fuel efficiency of electric cars to other vehicles. MPGe is also an appropriate unit of measurement for other alternate fuels, like hydrogen, or compressed natural gas.

How do we get MPGe numbers?

In order to compare gas and electricity consumption, a common unit that measures energy is required. Burning one gallon of gasoline creates 115,000 BTU. The electrical equal to this is 33.7 kWh. Therefore, the distance an electric vehicle can travel on 33.7 kWh of electricity is comparable to how far a conventional internal combustion vehicle can travel on one gallon of gasoline.

Comparing MPGe of electric vehicles.

Comparing the MPGe of Electric vehicles is possible, so let’s take a look at how they stack up. For the Volt, Fisker Karma and Prius PHEV keep in mind that these vehicles are equipped with a gas powered range extender. This means we can use gas MPG numbers for part of the EPA rating.

Fisker, only gave us one MPGe number, the combined one. Tesla would not give us MPGe numbers of their roadster, or upcoming Model S, or Model X vehicles.

Where does MPGe fall apart?

The major problem with MPGe is that it doesn’t say exactly what electric car owners need to know. Range is probably the most important number that electric car buyers will want to look at. While range is present on the EPA sticker label, it’s just not as prominent as MPGe. As you can see in the chart above, MPGe has no relationship on range. Electric vehicles really depend on battery size to determine range, so that would be another key specification prospective buyers should take a look at.

As more and more electric vehicles come onto the market, this should start to overshadow the MPG numbers. Additionally, MPG numbers are losing trust with consumers. Some manufacturers are using the more generous (by roughly 25%) CAFE numbers instead of actual EPA test numbers which can further mislead customers.

With electric vehicles only making up 1% of the total cars purchased, the MPGe number plays a greater role, helping consumers to compare with conventional cars. As more electric vehicles enter the market, MPGe numbers will be less relevant, and buyers can look range as a defining factor in buying their cars.

Electric vehicles probably seem to have a tiny carbon footprint at the surface, but a recent study suggests environmental impact varies in gravity according to where the vehicle is charged.

Automakers tout EVs as zero-emission transportation but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an environmental impact. The issue is that charging creates green house gases, and those emissions aren’t necessarily constant. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which uses the electric power requirements of the Nissan Leaf as a basis for comparison, there is a significant disparity in greenhouse gases released into the environment depending on the source of the electricity itself.

The study that will be officially released on Monday states that a full cycle of energy production, also known as well-to-wheel analysis, must be taken into account. Findings from the U.C.S. report demonstrate that electric utilities that rely on natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, or renewable sources to power their generators serve a far greater potential of reducing carbon dioxide emissions than coal-burning electric plants. According to U.C.S., greenhouse gases from coal plants negatively affect the well-to-wheel figure for electric vehicles enough that it suffers a greater carbon footprint than that of subcompact vehicles featuring the latest gasoline engines.

A geographical breakdown of electricity generation is also included in the report to identify the dirtier coal power plants in question. The findings show that only the 45 percent of the U.S. population living along the coasts have sources of electricity capable of using a Nissan Leaf EV at lower greenhouse gas levels than gasoline engine vehicles capable of 50 mpg in combined driving.

In fact, 37 percent of Americans reside in regions where a Nissan Leaf’s impact would only match gasoline vehicles rated at 41 to 50 mpg. Finally, 18 percent of Americans live in regions that are worse, where greenhouse gas emissions from the Leaf only match gasoline vehicle rated from a combined 31 to 40 mpg, which measures up to emissions from the Ford Focus, or Hyundai Elantra.

At its core, U.C.S. hopes the study will encourage modernized power plants. Senior U.C.S. engineer, Don Anair, said the dirtiest electric-grid regions account for between two and a half to four times the global-warming emissions than those of the cleanest regions. Still, it seems there’s hope.

“A number of old coal-fired power plants are now being retired. Given emission standards recently introduced by the current administration, any new coal-fired plants will be far cleaner than their predecessors,” he said.

[Source: New York Times]

When it comes to pure electric cars, range anxiety is never far from the conversation. Indeed, here at AutoGuide, we’ve had a number of experiences when cars almost ran out of juice, including the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i.

In the Leaf’s case, getting the car from to and from the AutoGuide office proved to be somewhat unnerving, given the 40-mile distance from house to office alone.

And we’re not alone, anybody driving more than a 30 mile round trip each day is likely to face a similar scenario (Nissan says the car has a range of about 70 miles in real world driving before requiring a charge).

Until recently, the onboard Carwings Telematics system that informs you if you’re able to reach a specific destination based on the Leaf’s range and charge status, as well as locations for charging stations, didn’t do a lot to help quell range anxiety. The problem was that it didn’t take into account changes in elevation en route, which could mean a difference between reaching a set destination or running out of juice before you got there.

In order to help remedy the situation, Nissan has developed an updated Carwings system, with improved algorithms, that factors in such aspects as hills and detours. The result is designed to paint a more accurate overall picture when it comes to setting a destination and predicting how far the vehicle will take you based on the battery’s state of charge.

In addition, Nissan is also working on software that will enable Leaf drivers to check if nearby charging stations are available and functioning, instead of merely indicating their presence.

Now while these two attributes are likely to alleviate range anxiety for a number of Leaf owners, Nissan has still yet to announce when the updated Carwings system will be made available. Hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.

March was a great month for many manufacturers, and Chevrolet posted some record setting sales numbers with its extended range electric vehicle, the Volt.

The Volt set its best sales month yet, with 2,289 units sold in March 2012. That’s more than double what they sold in February 2012. Before March, the most Volts Chevy had sold in a single month was back in December 2011, when it sold 1,529 units.

In comparison, the Volts biggest competitor, the pure-electric Nissan Leaf sold just 579 models in March. That is an increase from their February numbers, but is a far cry from their best selling month back in June 2011 when they sold 1,708.

Hopefully if sales of the Volt keep climbing, perhaps Chevy could consider canceling that extra week off in the summer at their Volt plant.

Questions and uncertainty are swirling around the Infiniti battery-electric vehicle (BEV) which Nissan will debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show.

The BEV, which isn’t named yet, will share underpinnings with the Nissan Leaf, but with more emphasis on power and aggressive styling.

“It was designed to be a luxury vehicle first and an electric vehicle second,” Infiniti marketing manager Sam Chung told The Detroit Bureau.

As Nissan’s second electric-only car, it underscores the value placed on such vehicles by the automaker. While ideas surrounding the car’s styling are little more than speculation, we’re wondering how much the Emerg-E concept that debuted in Geneva earlier this month might come into play.

Infiniti’s BEV will, however, adopt the mid-cycle changes headed for the Leaf. Those include an improved electric cabin heater that will be less taxing on the car’s battery, improving range and cold weather driving. The update will also bring an improved battery with better range, though the same principles apply to BEVs as do gasoline engines: the more output, the poorer the range.

Given that, it seems like the better battery will at least make it into the car if not as an even beefier version, but that coupled with a performance-first attitude suggests the vehicle’s range will probably be compromised.

Still, the new BEV will adopt an updated 6 kw charger, over the current-generation Leaf’s 3 kw charger, which will offer improved charging times, both to new Leaf customers and those interested in the more luxurious Infiniti.

We’ll be reporting live from New York next month, so check back for more details as they become available.