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How much would a Leaf owner pay to banish range anxiety? If your answer was “$100 a month,” then Nissan’s got a proposition for you. The car maker is gearing up to launch a domestic battery replacement program for its EV in 2014 that’ll set you back that aforementioned sum. Similar to Nissan’s setup in Europe, if your battery can only hold nine out of 12 bars worth of charge, it’ll replace the unit with a new or reconditioned unit. The company insists that very few will ever actually need to replace the battery, but hey, squeezing $1,200 a year out of its existing customers is a sure-fire way to inspire loyalty.

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Via: Autoblog.green

The Nissan LEAF is still going strong after two years, and is a pretty durable ride.

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Those of you familiar with the Nissan Leaf will know about its Carwings system, which lets you check the vehicle’s charge, turn on the AC, rate your driving efficiency against others and even read RSS feeds out loud — all over an always-on cellular data connection. In fact, the RSS functionality raised some privacy concerns when it was discovered that Carwings embeds location and other data in the URL it sends to public servers (something that can thankfully be disabled by the owner). Nissan announced today that it plans to make telemetry data from the Leaf available to third-party developers for a fee — with the owner’s consent, of course. The company already uses telemetry data for vehicle maintenance and products like Carwings, but it hopes to broaden the ecosystem with apps. Examples include smart-grid integration (supplying power to a building for a reduced parking fee) and location-based services (real-time coupons as you drive by restaurants). It’ll be interesting to see if there’s enough interest from both developers and Leaf owners for Nissan to successfully monetize this idea.

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Source: Nikkei (subscription required)

Back on February 8, we reported that Nissan had unveiled the 2014 GT-R Track Edition, a limited-production racer that, at the time, was without a price tag. Fast forward a couple months and Nissan has announced the pricing for the GT-R Track Edition, which is set at $115,710, making it an option only for racing enthusiasts with deep pockets.

Says Nissan, the 2014 GT-R Track Edition is meant to take the popular GT-R car up a notch, heading towards the realm of competition racers. To facilitate the differences, the Track Edition features things like specialized brake cooling guides, carbon fiber air ducts, and – instead of normal backseats – a quilted cloth. Other cars in the GT-R family include the GT-R Black and the GT-R Premium.

Both of those GT-R models are cheaper than the Track Edition model, with the Black being priced at $109,300 and the Premium being priced at $99,590. The Track Edition in particular will have a very limited production of 150 vehicles, which are already on sale at select Nissan GT-R dealers across the United States. Both the Black and Premium editions are also available.

Unlike the other GT-R models, the Track Edition features Bilstein DampTronic gas-pressure shock absorbers and high spring rates, giving it an updated suspension system. Nissan says that the Nurburgring was heavily used in the suspension’s development, putting it through testing and aiding with benchmarks. The front seats are high-grip, the tires are nitrogen-filled, and the rear spoiler is handmade from carbon fiber.

[via AutoBlog]

Nissan reveals 2014 GT-R Track Edition pricing is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nissan and New York have conspired together to bring 6 new electric taxis to the city today. The Nissan Leaf is the model for these taxis and it’s repainted to look right for the job. Nissan and New York worked together to launch these new electric taxis today in celebration of Earth Day. These taxis will test out the waters of New York to see if electric cars are equipped to take on the taxi world.

Nissan states that the Nissan Leaf taxis have a range of around 100 miles, making it more than enough to handle the average daily taxi route of 70 miles. Nissan and New York wants to see whether or not these taxis are fit to take on the demanding life of New York citizens, who are in constant demand of a taxi at every moment. Just in case these Nissan Leaf taxis are unable to survive the day with only one charge, Nissan has set up quick-charging stations around New York so drivers can recharge their taxis if need be.

These 6 new electric taxis are all part of New York’s Mayor Bloomberg’s goal of having electric taxis make up at least 33% of New York’s taxi cars by the year 2020. If the Nissan Leaf performs well as a taxi, then Bloomberg’s plans are well on their way to becoming a reality. David Yassky, the Taxi and Limousine Commissioner, stated that Nissan is “working on that timeline”, with both the Nissan Leaf and an electric version of Nissan’s NV 200.

The Nissan NV 200 is New York’s “Taxi of Tomorrow”, and is set to become the official taxi of New York. It was approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission and it beat out several rivals for the position. While not electric, it will be much more fuel friendly than the entirety of the taxis in New York City. Nissan plans on launching the NV 200 by October this year, starting the 10-year agreement it has with New York to be the city’s official taxi provider.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Six electric taxis hit the streets of New York is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.