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Nissan's gold Olympics-edition EV, and more in the week that was
Tesla's Gigafactory is set to double the world's battery production, and this week it opened its doors for the first time. Tesla is also working on an electric truck, but Mercedes-Benz beat them to punch this week by launching the world's first all-electric big rig. In other transportation news, a sun-powered airplane completed an epic trip around the world -- and we highlighted eight milestones from its record-shattering flight. Nissan announced that it will give golden Leaf EVs to medal-winning Olympic athletes. And Norway unveiled plans to build the world's first floating underwater traffic tunnels, which will be suspended from pontoons.
Nissan announces a suite of auto-drive features
Nissan is getting in on the semi-autonomous driving function game, having launched a suite of them on Wednesday. Unlike Tesla's automated options, Nissan made sure to stress they're intended only to assist rather than outright replace drivers.
Nissan's bio-ethanol fuel cell would lower the cost of clean cars
Hydrogen fuel cell cars are eco-friendly, but they come at a steep cost: hydrogen is normally expensive to make and store. Nissan, however, thinks it has a solution. It's developing a fuel cell system that will use bio-ethanol (generated from crops like corn and sugarcane) as a hydrogen source when it reaches vehicles in 2020. The technology combines the transformed bio-ethanol with air to power an electric motor. You're theoretically getting a "carbon-neutral" car with much more range than a pure EV -- Nissan is aiming for 497 miles on a tank where even the best Tesla Model S runs out of power at 294 miles. And since you wouldn't need to store hydrogen, you wouldn't need either giant tanks inside cars or special fuel stations.
Infiniti wants to bring highway self-driving to new models
Nissan's luxury Infiniti brand has its sights set on self-driving. Speaking at an automotive conference in China this week, Infiniti president Roland Kreuger announced plans to integrate highway self-driving in newer models, Reuters reports. At this point, only the Q50 sedan has the necessary steering technology to enable the feature, but Kreuger says the company plans to bring it to new cars on an individual basis. "Whenever we are launching the next cars with such a steering system or the next generation of these systems, then of course we would offer those features to our customers," he said.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Hyperloop One's public test, and more!
The Hyperloop promises to one day transport passengers at blazing speeds -- and the technology just took a big step forward. This week Hyperloop One launched a cart from 0 to 166 miles per hour in 1.1 seconds in its first public test. In other futuristic transportation news, a European Space Agency incubator just unveiled the world's first flying car capable of vertical takeoff and landing. In Japan, there are now more electric vehicle chargers than gas stations. And researchers in Mexico have developed a new type of glowing cement that could light up dark highways.
Nissan's xStorage is its take on Tesla's Powerwall battery
Nissan's grand designs for zero-emission cities of the future may be some way off, but you gotta start somewhere. And that somewhere starts with "xStorage," the automaker's home energy hoarding system announced today. Like Tesla's Powerwall and Mercedes' residential battery, the idea is to save you money in the long run by charging the thing up when off-peak electricity rates are in effect. You can then use the cache to power your home when energy is more expensive -- switching between sources by way of smartphone app -- or sell it back to the grid during these times of higher demand. And if you can juice the xStorage unit up using a renewable source like solar, then all the greener.
Nissan outs Mitsubishi for cheating fuel economy tests
Mitsubishi Motors has admitted to manipulating data in Japanese fuel efficiency tests in order to overstate the fuel efficiency of 625,000 cars. Unlike the Volkswagen scandal, the cheating wasn't spotted by officials, but rather Nissan, its partner in a minicar venture. Mitsubishi and Nissan have collaborated on kei minicars -- tiny vehicles like the Nissan Dayz and Mitsubishi eK, which are very popular in Japan -- since 2013, with the former doing the manufacturing.
Sony, car makers halt production after Japan earthquakes
Southern Japan has been hit by two serious earthquakes in a matter of days, and those back-to-back disasters may have a significant impact on the tech industry. To start with, Sony has temporarily shut down factories making smartphone camera sensors in Kumamoto and Nagasaki over concerns of possible damage. The company has some inventory to help weather the storm, but it won't have an update until April 18th at the earliest. Any extended downtime could be a problem for the mobile world -- some of the biggest phone makers (including Apple) rely on Sony's sensors, and any significant snarls could hurt their ability to build phones.
Nissan's 'mind-reading' Leaf projects driver reactions on the road
Nissan is no stranger to weird concepts for automobiles. Remember the automaker's Teatro for Dayz selfie wagon? To celebrate the 5th anniversary of its all-electric Leaf, Nissan developed a version of the car that can read a passenger's mind... sort of. After scanning brain waves of first-time test-drivers in the EV with a headset, the special-edition Leaf projected one of over 30 comic-esque messages on the road outside in real time. In other words, folks outside of the vehicle could "see" a general translation of what the driver was thinking. Luckily this is just a concept, so the thoughts that pass through your mind in fits of road rage will remain safe from public view -- for the near future, at least.
Nissan disables its Leaf remote control app (update)
GM recently found out that connected cars can be vulnerable to online attacks, and now it's Nissan's turn. Security researcher Troy Hunt reports several parties have learned that the Leaf's climate control system is susceptible to attack through flaws in its companion app, which lets you remotely activate certain features. There's apparently no safety risk (it only works when you're parked), but an intruder abusing the code could turn on the climate system in any car -- provided they know the VIN -- from anywhere in the world. Imagine leaving work to find that your battery is dead, simply because a prankster ran the heating all day -- not very fun, is it?
ICYMI: Spacey HoloLens use, spy submarines and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-905675{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-905675, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-905675{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-905675").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: DARPA is about to start testing an autonomous submarine called Sea Hunter, designed to find and trail larger submarines for weeks at a time.
Nissan's self-parking chairs keep lazy offices tidy
While motorized human transporters have yet to truly take off, the folks over at Nissan have come up with something more practical for the time being: self-parking office chairs. With a single clap, these futuristic furniture will automagically tuck themselves back into their rightful positions, thus keeping your office or meeting room neat and tidy. And of course, it's also fun to watch, as you can see in the video after the break. Nissan says these modified Okamura chairs are actually tracked by four motion cameras on the walls, and then they are simultaneously controlled via Wi-Fi.
BMW and Nissan roll out dual-plug EV chargers across the US
In some says, Tesla's Supercharger network is its ace in the hole -- you can buy one of the company's electric cars knowing that you'll have speedy charging when away from home. BMW and Nissan aren't going to let this competitive edge go unanswered, though. They're launching a network of 120 dual-format fast chargers (both CHAdeMO and CCS) across 19 US states, any of which should bring most EVs up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes. The stations should be available now, and you can find them in the automakers' respective mobile apps.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Elon Musk's solar energy plan
It's been a good week for environmental news. For starters, world leaders sealed the deal on a historic climate agreement in Paris, President Obama announced the largest energy efficiency rule in US history and congress extended solar and wind tax credits for another five years. Elon Musk found a way to power the entire United States with solar energy, and Bernie Sanders declared war on global warming in his ambitious climate plan. Google expanded its free online solar power calculator to nine more states, while SolarPod launched an innovative line of photovoltaic panels that can be installed on any roof without drilling a single hole.
Nissan wants you to use its Leaf EV like a Tesla Powerwall
In May, Tesla explained why it's a good idea to put multi-kWh batteries our homes. Half a year on, Nissan has worked out how to use the multi-kWh battery inside its Leaf EV in the same way. It's teamed up with the energy company ENEL to debut a "Vehicle 2 Grid" (V2G) system that allows electric vehicles as mobile power plants for homes, offices or returning energy to the grid.
Nissan unleashes its autonomous car prototype in Japan
Nissan has begun testing its Leaf-based autonomous car prototype, not on private property, but on Japanese inner city roads and highways. To be exact, the automaker wants to put its "Piloted Drive" mode (part of its Intelligent Driving System) to the test, which can take control of the car in certain conditions. The mode's first version, which Nissan wants to add to production models by the end of 2016, enables a car to drive autonomously in heavy traffic on the highway. The company hopes to roll out the ability to change lanes by 2018, as well as the power to navigate city roads and intersections without human input by 2020.
Nissan's Teatro for Dayz: A crazy name for a crazy car
It's hard to stake a claim to silliest car concept at a show like the Tokyo Motor Show, but Nissan is probably, no definitely, the winner. What other car lets you play an RPG across almost the whole interior, or lets you splash the seats (and steering wheel) with grass, leopard skin, or adorably giant wooly patterns? There isn't one. Teatro for Dayz is the free-spirited step-sister of Nissan's serious, buttoned-down self-driving EV, and it's Nissan's hope that it'll convince non-auto fans to, well, take an interest.
Nissan's self-driving EV gives you restaurant recommendations too
It's not another Leaf, but Nissan's treating its IDS concept vehicle as an equally huge a step for automobiles. Packing a 30kWh battery with enough (EPA-rated) power for a drive up to 107 miles, it's the first (admittedly concept) car to show up with the carmaker's Intelligent Driving System. Notable parts of Nissan's autonomous driving plans include special driving modes for traffic jams (where it'll keep pace with the vehicle ahead of it while also keeping itself in the right lane), as well as restaurant recommendations based on previous trips. Ridiculously, or brilliantly, in piloted mode the IDS flips its steering wheel away to offer up a tablet for the driver. At the same time, all the seats curve ever-so slightly inwards to aid conversation. Or make it harder to ignore your fellow passengers.
Scoot launches electric car rentals and plans second city expansion
Scoot is moving beyond its namesake. Today the company announced the availability of the Scoot Quad, a four-wheeled electric car from Nissan called the New Mobility Concept (worst name ever) based on the Renault Twizy. The company's fleet of scooters will be joined by 10 Quads as the company evolves into a light-electric vehicle sharing company that will soon be expanding into an unnamed second city. Mike Waltman, vice president of fleet said, "We are narrowing it down now and we expect to be the second city next year." But the Quad is here now and I got a chance to drive it through the streets of San Francisco ahead of today's launch.
Nissan's concept car is covered in displays for the selfie generation
There's little doubt the cars of the future will be increasingly more high tech. However, if Nissan has anything to do with it, those vehicles could be blanketed in customizable displays, too. The Japanese company revealed its "Teatro for Dayz" (yes, really) concept ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show later this month that covers most of the interior, and some of the exterior, with "a clean canvas" of LED panels. Nissan's goal was to make a car that "share natives" (the selfie generation, in other words) would find appealing. To do that, the automaker designed a vehicle where time spent riding could also be used for "connecting and sharing experiences with friends." And, you know, paying attention to the road.