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Toyota, Subaru enter race to market electric vehicles

TOKYO--Two new challengers from Japan have joined the race for electric vehicles.

Subaru says it will start fleet sales of a four-seat electric car next year, and Toyota Motor Corp. for the first time has confirmed plans for a battery-powered offering in the early 2010s.

Both companies are stepping up the zero-emissions mantra as Japanese rivals Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. push ahead on what many see as the future of automobiles.

Nissan plans U.S.-fleet sales of an electric vehicle in 2010. Mitsubishi is eyeing a 2010 launch of its electric iMiEV in Japan, followed by Europe and the United States.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe announced the company's electric-vehicle plans last month at Toyota's annual business strategy meeting. Details were sparse, but R&D chief Masatami Takimoto said the car's range would be limited by the performance of today's batteries.

"For the time being, the most realistic approach is to use pure electric vehicles for short-distance travel," Takimoto said. "So in the early stage of the 2010s, we would like to offer a compact, very small electric vehicle on a small-scale basis."

Toyota has been testing its ultracompact E-com since 1999. But the bubble-shaped runabout seats only two, a load deemed impractical by most electric vehicle contenders.… Read more

Next-gen Nissan Titan to get HEMI power

Owners of the next iteration of the Nissan Titan will finally be able to say, "That thang's got a Hemi!"

PickupTrucks.com has confirmation from Chrysler LLC chairman Jim Press that the next-generation Nissan Titan will receive a version of Chrysler's 5.7 liter Hemi V-8 gas engine. This makes sense when you consider that last May, the Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co. announced that the next Titan half-ton pickup would be built by Chrysler at its plant in Saltillo, Mexico, and that the next Titan would be based on the all-new Dodge Ram 1500. … Read more

Nismo tunes the untunable Nissan GT-R

When the Nissan GT-R was released, Nissan's engineers famously stated that the vehicle was the apex of Nissan performance, its systems so well integrated that any traditional go-faster mods would in fact make the car slower. According to sources at gtrblog.com, Nissan's Nismo tuning division didn't get the memo since it just released the Nismo Club Sport Package for the Nissan GT-R in Japan.

The Club Sport package actually consists of three smaller packages, a chassis package, a sport seat package, and exhaust package.… Read more

Nissan brake-resistance system steers drivers out of trouble

It looks like Nissan drivers of the future will have another electronic nanny nudging their vehicles toward safer driving. Nissan has recently demonstrated to Reuters a brake-resistance device that would attempt to keep drivers from changing lanes if another vehicle is detected in the motorist's blind spot.

Blind spot and lane departure warning systems aren't new--many vehicles we've tested include lights that illuminate or warning beeps to notify the driver of danger. The Audi A8 L W12, tested earlier in the month, vibrated the steering wheel if you drifted out of your lane without intentionally signaling. Nissan'… Read more

Nissan shows off new hybrid, electric vehicle and fuel cell stack

At this year's New York auto show, Nissan showed off an electric vehicle concept and committed to developing one for production. This week, Nissan demonstrated it was doing more than blowing smoke by showing off its electric research vehicle, a prototype of its new hybrid system, and a new fuel cell that costs less while offering greater power density.

Nissan expects to offer an electric vehicle by 2010, with mass market production in 2012. The current vehicle being shown is similar to the concept Denki Cube from the New York auto show and is merely a research vehicle to … Read more

Nissan's ECO Pedal drives you to fuel efficiency

Nissan Motor Company on Monday announced a new system that calculates the most fuel efficient rate of acceleration and pushes the gas pedal back against the driver's lead foot, according to the Associated Press. This new system, dubbed "ECO Pedal," will be available next year and, according to Nissan, can help drivers improve fuel efficiency by 5 to 10 percent, according to AP story.

If you're thinking what we're thinking, that the ECO Pedal has potential to compromise safety in the name of fuel efficiency, you'll be glad to know that Nissan is giving … Read more

Review: 2009 Nissan Murano SL AWD

"SUV" once meant large, truck-like gas-guzzler that, despite never being taken off-road, seemed better suited to the actual jungle than the urban jungle. Enter the Nissan Murano. Ignoring the SUV's truck roots, Nissan created a vehicle that cast off all rugged pretenses and brought style to the boxy world of the SUV.

The 2009 Nissan Murano has received a styling evolution that is still distinctly "Murano," which is a good thing since the original model was quite a looker. The new model features new body lines that are more pronounced and muscular. The most obvious … Read more

Review: 2009 Nissan GT-R

It must be Christmas, because a 2009 Nissan GT-R showed up in our garage. Just like how we spent 1973 transfixed by commercials for the Vertibird Rescue Ship toy, we slathered over every specification sheet and photo of the new GT-R since the concept was shown at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show. And in each case, we finally ended up at the controls of one. The GT-R is definitely the biggest, baddest toy on the block.

The GT-R is essentially a race car made for the street. Production cars don't generally squeeze 480 horsepower out of a V-6, or … Read more

Photos: 2009 Nissan Maxima

Nissan gave journalists a preview of the redesigned 2009 Nissan Maxima in Los Angeles, a model Nissan is dubbing the four door sports car. The Maxima is Nissan's top line sedan, sitting above the Altima in the model line-up. This car tech powerhouse borrows a lot from its luxury sibling, the Infiniti G35, including live traffic on its navigation system and an internal hard drive for storing music.

Click here for photos of the 2009 Nissan Maxima.