Nissan's all electric Leaf goes into mass production next year.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Automakers tend to agree that the electrification of the car is inevitable, but Nissan is leading the way by readying a mass-market, affordable electric car for production. The Leaf is a midsize hatchback with a range of a little more than 100 miles, according to Nissan. Although Nissan didn't let us drive it, the company brought the Leaf to CNET's headquarters so we could get a close look at what might be the future of driving.
When Nissan first released pictures of the car, commenters found it ugly, with its bulbous headlights giving it a frog-like appearance. But in person, the length of the car mitigates that criticism. And looking over those headlights, we could see that they are longer, and more fin-shape than bulbous. The lights are LEDs, used because of their low power draw. The shape of the headlight casings has an aerodynamic purpose, splitting airflow around the side mirrors.
A hatch in front of the car conceals two plug-in points, one a standardized socket for electric vehicles and the other a proprietary Nissan design that can charge the batteries to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The Nissan plug, which would only work with very specific charging stations, uses DC power so that the onboard inverter doesn't have to convert external AC power for the DC batteries. The standardized plug will work with more sources, taking AC power from the grid and running it through the inverter, lengthening the time it takes to charge the batteries.
Nissan developed the lithium ion batteries for the Leaf in conjunction with NEC. The batteries are flat slabs that fit in the chassis of the car. Weighing about 500 pounds, the battery placement and distribution helps to lower the Leaf's center of gravity. Beyond charging from a plug, the Leaf also incorporates regenerative braking. Similar to the Tesla, as soon as you lift off the accelerator, regenerative braking kicks in, sending juice to the batteries and slowing the car.
The Nissan Leaf goes on sale in December of 2010 as a 2011 model. Nissan is counting on 20,000 preorders for the car, and will initially build them in Japan. By the third model year, the company expects to start producing them from its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.
How do you get into a Tesla Roadster when you're 6'6"? Folks at the San Carlos-based automaker have provided you with this short instructional video on the best for tall drivers to get in and out of the $109,000 Roadster sports car.
The video features campy humor as well as showcasing Tesla Motors t-shirts , which sell for about $20.
Why spend upward of $100 on a navigation app when CoPilot's on sale for $20?
At $34.99, ALK's CoPilot Live North America is already one of the least-expensive navigation apps in the iTunes App Store. At $19.99, it's an outright steal.
That's the deal ALK is offering this holiday weekend, and you can grab it starting right now.
CoPilot Live offers complete turn-by-turn navigation for the U.S. and Canada. Its features include text-to-speech (meaning it announces street names), address book integration, tap-to-call POI listings, and easy switching between different modes of travel (car, bicycle, walking, and so on).
You'll definitely want to read Dong Ngo's CoPilot Live road test that covers the highlights and letdowns--but keep in mind the app's been updated since then. For example, Ngo dings it for lacking text-to-speech, but it now has that feature.
Still missing, alas, is real-time traffic information, which apparently remains on the coming-soon list. Thankfully, future updates to the app will be free, though any premium services like traffic will cost you.
Even without that option, it's hard to pass up a full-featured navigation app for just $20, especially with competitors like Navigon, iGo My Way, and TomTom still selling in the $70-100 range.
The only missing ingredient is a dashboard or windshield mount for your iPhone. I recommend heading to a Web site like Eforcity or Meritline and picking up an inexpensive gooseneck mount.
Dear readers, while I am a current resident of the great state of California, I will always consider Dayton, Ohio, to be home sweet home. And while it's unfortunate that I am unable to make it home for the Thanksgiving holiday, I have this cute little Web video to remind me of the good-ol' Midwest as CarAndDriver.com takes the 2010 Porsche Panamera for a 24-hour tour of Dayton and its surrounding suburban Ohio neighbors.
The premise here is that the CarAndDriver.com guys are going to take turns driving the 2010 Porsche Panamera sport sedan all around the Dayton, Ohio region nonstop for 24 hours to see what they think about driving the car and being in it for an extended period of time. The reviews and comments are generally positive, with many of the test drivers rating the Porsche Panamera with high regards. But what makes this clip special to me is all the beautiful architecture and green scenery of rural Ohio, reminding me so much of home. If you are able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your family, please do so and let your loved ones know that you cherish these times together. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
The Lexus LF-A appeared at the 2009 SEMA Show.
(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)
LOS ANGELES--Lexus has a plan to head off speculators when its limited-edition LFA sports car goes on sale in January 2011.
The company will offer only two-year leases for the $375,000 two-seater, said Brian Smith, vice president of sales and dealer development for Lexus division. Lexus will hang on to the vehicle's title.
"If someone buys it the first month and then decides to sell it, that could be damaging for the ownership experience," Smith said. "If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off."
Only 500 units of the 552 horsepower LFA will be built during the two-year period that begins in December 2010. No car will be built until it is ordered.
"You can personalize it right down to the stitching in the car," Smith said.
He said Lexus wants each customer to pay about the same price for the LFA, which will be powered by a 4.8-liter 10-cylinder engine. At the end of the two-year lease, customers can opt to buy the cars.
"We want people out driving the car and not just parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price," Smith said.
About 15 Lexus employees will get extensive training on the car before they start meeting with prospective customers in March. The LFA specialists will be stationed at each of Lexus' four regions around the country--West, Chicago, New Jersey, and Atlanta--and at Lexus headquarters in California.
Customers can choose their own dealer for delivery.
Dealers will not have to invest in special tools or training. Lexus will purchase the tools and hire trained technicians to perform the service at the stores.
(Source: Automotive News)
The Saab deal unravels: Is the Swedish tech innovator dead? What we're looking for at the L.A. auto show. The best time to buy a car may surprise you. BMW revamps the 5-Series and makes a run at the kind of diesel America never loved and Europe always has. And we take a ride in the GMC Terrain.
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EPISODE 146
SHOW NOTES• BMW launches new 5-series online
• BMW set to offer small, 4-cylinder diesels in U.S.
• Bad news for Saab: White knight turns and rides off
• Ferrari hybrid seems imminent according to what looks like a cocktail napkin sketch
• CNET Video: What you'll need to replace your factory car stereo
BMW's new 5-series incorporates many tech updates.
(Credit: BMW)
BMW released full details and photos of the new, 2011 5-series, representing a pretty significant update to the company's midsize sport-luxury sedan. An entirely new platform was developed, and is now shared between the 5-series and the new 7-series. The 550i model and 750i also share a power plant, a twin turbo 4.4-liter V-8. In the 550i, this engine produces 407 horsepower, bringing the car to 60 mph in 5 seconds. Other U.S. models are the 535i, powered by the same twin turbo 3-liter straight-six as the previous model, and a 528i.
The new 5-series serves as a platform for a host of driver aid technologies. Lane Change Warning alerts you to other cars in your blind spots while lane departure warning lets you know when you're drifting across lane lines. A night view system shows an enhanced display of the road on the LCD when it's dark out, and includes a pedestrian detection feature. Adaptive cruise control lets you set a cruising speed, and have the car slow down to match speeds with slower traffic ahead.
One of the more surprising driver aid features is automated parallel parking. This system is made possible by BMW's adoption of an electric power steering module for the 5-series. It uses sonar to determine if a parking space is long enough for the car, then automatically steers the wheel as you handle the gas and brake.
The 5-series gets the latest version of iDrive, but BMW is actually making it standard on all models. That means you get an LCD in the car whether you've chosen the navigation option or not. Without navigation, the LCD is a little smaller, and shows audio, phone, climate, and other car functions.
The Motorsports HD Hero comes packaged with a bunch of bits for flexible placement.
(Credit: GoPro cameras)On paper, the GoPro HD Hero is hitting on all cylinders. It's rugged, it's compact, and--to top it all off--it shoots in five modes of video (four of which are HD) and high-resolution still photography. But then you go to use it and things start to run a little less smoothly.
The HD Hero's weakest point lies with its thumbnail-size LCD screen and pinhead-size icons. With only two buttons and a cryptic menu system, the Hero's options screen probably shouldn't be tackled without an instruction manual close at hand. How else are you supposed to know what odd abbreviations such as "ALL" or "DAT" are supposed to mean? (Here's a hint: one of them formats your media, the other is a more benign function.)
Fortunately, the GoPro HD Hero fixes a number of issues that we had with the previous Hero camera system (such as the finicky AAA battery pack), but does the good outweigh the bad? Check out our full review to find out.
If you're a Porsche fan, I'm sure you may have a curiosity about how these revered automobiles are made. I'm in the same boat as you, and I found this neat little video that puts you right on the production line and watch these fine German assembly workers work their magic in putting together the much-talked about 2010 Panamera - Porsche's very first sedan model.
Unfortunately there's no real audio or narration to help guide us through this process, but I have been able to discern a few details about what you see going on in this video. Porsche has done everything possible to make the Panamera as light as possible but still maintain the sports car power that it is known for. Instrumental to that notion and the sports car handling of this car is due to its unique make of advanced steel, aluminum and magnesium as well as the centrally placed V8 engine that sits as low and far back under the hood as possible. Also throughout this video we get to see everything from the installation of the bi-xenon headlights, the doors, the leather upholstery, the bucket seats and more. It's neat - check it out.
KAMIGAMOU, Japan--Nissan is beefing up quality control at its flagship Infiniti factory, partly by adding more female inspectors to improve the fit and finish of the redesigned M sedan, which arrives next spring in the United States.
According to Nissan, women show better attention to detail. But there are other quality stopgaps, including new laser measuring devices and better instructions for line workers.
"We have been making drastic changes in terms of quality assurance," said Mikio Aoki, general manager of quality at Nissan's Tochigi plant, which builds several Infiniti models including the M. "We are trying to build more robustness into the manufacturing process."
Aoki said some quality checkpoints that used to have human inspectors now use machines that can pinpoint problems more consistently. One additional process entails a new jig that holds the chassis so lasers can measure whether the gaps between the door and body are up to specifications.
Previous checks measured only the seal on the outside; the new one checks the interior seal, too.
"It costs us, so we really had to look at the cost-benefit point," Aoki said during a press tour of the factory this month. "But this is a new idea we applied to the Fuga."
The Fuga, known as the Infiniti M in the United States, goes on sale in Japan this month. A hybrid version of the Infiniti M is due stateside in spring 2011. Nissan is introducing the new quality measures for the luxury sedan's redesign.
A more advanced paint-check system has been brought online to assess the body's color consistency when viewed from different angles. This was introduced to ensure the perception of even color, especially on the M's more curvy body panels and fenders.
This year, Nissan added more women to the final inspection. It's partly to relieve them from more strenuous assembly work, but there are other reasons.
"Women tend to be sensitive and can better check quality elements," the Tochigi production control manager, Yasuhiko Obata, told reporters as he guided them past female inspectors poring over the final finish of cars coming off the line.
"We want to encourage women to work in the processes where they can best exhibit their high level of skill."
Nissan's Tochigi plant, just north of Tokyo, also makes the Infiniti G sedan, EX and FX crossovers and other high-end models, including the Nissan GT-R sports car and 370Z. About 83 percent of the factory's output is exported.
(Source: Automotive News)
