NYPD Green: Altima Hybrids On Patrol

In a first for the NYPD, they now have Nissan Altima Hybrids. Criminals in the NYC area better keep their gas tanks full. More »

Hybrid Luxury Sedan In Infiniti's Future?

Rumor has it Nissan is developing a lithium-ion battery-equipped, luxury hybrid sedan based on the Infiniti M (Nissan Fuga) for both the American and Japanese market. More »

Nissan Reveals Hybrid G35 Prototype, All-Electric System, Upgraded Fuel Cell Stack

Nissan yesterday unveiled prototypes for both a new all-electric powertrain vehicle as well as the first pictures of a prototype hybrid powertrain built on an Infiniti G35. Both systems would be run off a new lithium-ion battery pack system. More »

Nissan's Ghosn Green

Carlos "Guitarlos" Ghosn is pushing his company's dedication to lighter, more compact battery units. While Nissan's current hybrid system is based on NiMH batteries with powertrain tech licensed from Toyota, Renault's Japanese brothers are hammering on lithium ion cells in hopes of gaining a competitive advantage in electrical propulsion; in fact, Ghosn says he'd love to see Nissan in the ring with a viable electric vehicle. With GM having offered up a full-boat commitment to the Volt project and Toyota continuing to be well, Toyota, the melee in the hybrid market's only going to get more interesting before it gets codified. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Nissan Unveils Altima Hybrid at Orange County Show

Who knew the OC had its own car show, especially one that doesn't just feature row after row of BMW 6-Series convertibles? (Oh, that would be the mall.) Orange County's car show in Anaheim, today was the venue where Nissan for the first time wiped the cosmoline off its Altima hybrid, a car it plans to sell in emissions-strict markets including (surprise) California, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and New Jersey. Mileage is compatable with Toyota's Camry Hybrid at 41 mpg city / 36 highway, highlghting its full-hybrid status (i.e., it can run at low speeds on its electric motor alone). Also like the Camry, the Altima sports a continuously variable transmission. Such similarities with the Camry are no accident, considering Nissan's sourcing much of its hybrid-drive system from ToMoCo. – Mike Spinelli More »

Go-Go-Ghosn Going To Be Saying Bye-Bye To Toyota?

Nissan's Carlos Ghosn ain't just known for his ability to drop a load of profitability on an automaker, he's also known for shooting his mouth off — he must have that same rare disease Bob Lutz has. Anyway, he's talkin' some trash about the agreement Nissan's got with Toyota for sharing hybrid technology, sayin' stuff like "I don't think this agreement will go for a very long time...we have other projects and are developing our own technology." Yeah, and that's totally what Bill Gates told Apple when they were "borrowing" a Mac to "innovate" the Windows OS. More »

Nissan to Debut New Altima in New York

Nissan's second-banana midsize sedan, the Altima, has gotten a mild nip and tuck for 2007 — but the real story is its new hybridness. (See Motor Trend for a first drive of an Altima hybrid prototype.) Can the Nissan take on the Camry in the full-hybrid game? Actually, Toyota doesn't care: Nissan is using technology it licensed from the Big T to power the Altima. Well, Carlos said hybrids wouldn't pay. More »

There's No Business in Hybrid Business, No Business Ghosn Knows

Despite Nissan having announced it would build 50,000 hybrid-drive Altimas per year, company head Carlos Ghosn said recently hybrid cars are a "terrible" business. Of course, he means it's a terrible business currently, considering hybrids comprise a scant 1% of vehicle sales. But Ghosn goes even further, dismissing assumed demand for hybrids as "anecdotal" and saying he isn't convinced diesels (or multifuel offerings) aren't a better fuel-savings answer. Not one to follow fashion, he, especially while turning hopelessly unprofitable car companies into profitable ones. More »