nissan

A huge week of electric car announcements; the new Jaguar XJ reaches for the title of Top Tech Car; GM's out of BK; Dodge saves the Viper; and we take you for a ride in the hottest green car on the planet.

• CNET Review: 2010 Prius

• New Jaguar XJ launched, dripping with tech

• Best Buy moves hard into electric vehicles

• Sporty Hyundai plug in hybrid announced

• CNET Video: Volvo XC60 with automatic braking system

The Nissan Rogue may go down in history as one of the most inaccurately named cars of all time. It's not mysterious. It's not particularly quick. It is relatively quiet, but you won't be catching anyone off guard in this tubby little CUV. Instead of delivering a vehicle that breaks from convention and actually "goes rogue," Nissan has given us a decidedly average, small, crossover SUV. No surprises here.

Almost everything about the Rogue can be described as good but not great, whether it's power and handling or styling and cabin tech. In fact, … Read more

NASHVILLE--Imagine selling cars in a country with no gas stations. That's the challenge facing Nissan Motor Co.'s electric-vehicle ambitions. No recharging stations, no Nissan electric-vehicle sales.

Enter Tracy Woodard.

"It's sort of a chicken-and-egg thing," she says. "You can't sell EVs until there's an infrastructure. These things have to be hard-wired, and communities have to plan for that."

Woodard, director of government affairs at Nissan North America, has been on the road almost nonstop since last year, appealing to cities and states around the country to stimulate the creation of local electric-vehicle infrastructures.

So far, Woodard has worked out partnerships with governments and utilities in eight cities, states, or regions, including San Diego, Phoenix, and Raleigh, N.C. Local authorities have pledged to begin moving forward on electric-vehicle recharging networks, making new power-grid plans, devising residential electrical permitting policies, and the like.

Nissan aims to be the industry leader in mass-marketing electric vehicles in the United States. In June, the company said it will spend $1.6 billion to construct an electric-vehicle assembly operation in Smyrna, Tenn., along with a factory to manufacture lithium ion batteries. It will train 1,300 employees for the task. … Read more

We love hopped-up compact cars. Driving a Civic Si, Mazdaspeed3, or GTI is always a blast, so we were anticipating the arrival of the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V. But it didn't exactly deliver on its promise. Tire squealing acceleration? Check. Flip through corners? Not so much.

But our biggest disappointment came with the lack of cabin tech. This car is clearly aimed at cell phone-toting youth, so why no Bluetooth, or iPod integration? In our opinion, the Sentra SE-R Spec V is only halfway there. Add a lowering kit, good shocks, a serious stereo system, and then you'… Read more

Updated at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday with further loan details.

The U.S. government, which plans to kick-start development of a new generation of fuel-efficient automobiles through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, announced on Tuesday some loan application winners.

Ford Motor gets loans totaling $5.9 billion, going to a variety of fuel efficiency initiatives, while a $1.6 billion loan to Nissan is intended to help it refit a Tennessee plant for electric car production.

Tesla Motors is also a winner under the program, getting a $465 million loan, most of which will be used to … Read more

You know, I'm a big fan of Mustangs, both past and present. They're the classic American muscle car. But I'm also a fan of the Nissan Z series (my favorite model being the 300ZX, but I think they're all pretty sweet) as it's a fun, semisporty Japanese cruising machine. While I was searching for video for this week's blog series dedicated to my favorite cars, I found a video that had not just one but two of my fave rides--the Mustang and the Nissan 370Z. So here it is...an in depth look at … Read more

Electric cars have been getting plenty of buzz lately, but the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still going strong. The California Fuel Cell Partnership, along with Powertech Labs, National Hydrogen Association, and U.S. Fuel Cell Council, will seek to regain the spotlight with a road trip to demonstrate the practicality of these vehicles.

Twelve fuel cell cars from seven automakers will drive from Chula Vista, in Southern California, up to Vancouver, Canada, a trip of 1,700 miles. Vancouver was chosen for the destination because it will play host to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, where a … Read more

YOKOHAMA, Japan--As the mock-up electric Nissan Dualis crossover halts over the service bay, two robotic shuttles immediately start scurrying below.

One latches onto the underside of the Dualis, swiftly pulling out a spent battery pack. The other then lifts a fully charged pack into place. A green light, and away the driver goes. All in under a minute.

Welcome to the future of electric vehicles, as seen by Better Place. The Palo Alto, Calif., company aims to build an international network of battery-swap stations for electric vehicles.

The battery swap system, which made its global debut in concept form here, … Read more

When the Nissan Cube appeared on our review schedule, we expected to be thrilled by the tech and bored by the performance. But the opposite happened--we found a car with plenty of get-up-and-go but devoid of cabin gadgets. The problem with our Cube was its trim level; the base and S trim models are blank slates, ready for aftermarket electronics. You have to go up to the SL trim to get anything like MP3 capability or Bluetooth.

Unfortunately, we review cars by trim level, so the only thing that mitigated the Cube S' disappointing entertainment and communication options were its … Read more