nissan

The European Investment Bank, backed by European Union member states, approved 866 million euros ($1.2 billion) more in loan money to the auto industry on Tuesday.

The loans are specifically directed to "help design and build cleaner cars with lower carbon dioxide emissions," according to an EIB statement.

The package includes 400 million euros ($531 million) to Nissan's European division for the purpose of developing and building more fuel-efficient vehicles in Britain and Spain. Jaguar Land Rover was approved for a loan of 340 million pounds ($499 million) from the EIB to "to help cut … Read more

Nissan invited us out to take a spin in its EV-02 electric car prototype. While we were there, Mark Perry, director of product planning for Nissan North America, chatted us up about Nissan's plans to bring a zero tailpipe emissions electric vehicle to American roads as early as 2010.

Like all automakers, Nissan is under pressure from government regulators to reduce CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2050. While Perry stated that Nissan does have plans of bringing a hybrid vehicle to the market soon (potentially a plug-in), he also made it clear that Nissan views electric vehicles as the only way to meet emissions requirements. This is where the EV-02 comes in. The key, according to Perry, to making the promise of EV-02 a reality lies in the battery tech and the recharging infrastructure.

EV-02 uses a laminated lithium ion battery tech that crams twice the power and twice the range of more conventional lithium ion batteries into a package that's half the size and half the weight. The battery was developed by Nissan in partnership with semiconductor manufacturer NEC. Nissan will most likely use this same battery tech in its upcoming hybrid.… Read more

We actually talk about Jennifer Aniston's relationship problems today, because she allegedly blamed them on Twitter. I think Twitter has officially arrived, if it hadn't already. Plus, the Asus Eee is getting voice recognition. And Nissan is bringing it with the all-electric vehicle. But for how much?

OnLive to replace game console with online availability of games http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10202688-235.html

Zeebo gaming console http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10202898-235.html

Warner Archive site offers DVD burn-to-order http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={A5B4D522-4BE5-4FF5-8022-CBA1A19158B7}&siteid=rss… Read more

Nissan showed us it could make a supercar with the GT-R, and followed up with the 370Z as an everyday sports car. Now the company gives its Maxima sedan a sports treatment, letting the 3.5-liter V-6 sound off with a musical exhaust note and respond quickly to throttle input. Rounding it out, the Maxima gets cabin tech that includes iPod integration and hard drive-based navigation.

Read our review of the 2009 Nissan Maxima.

Nissan announced a partnership with San Diego Gas and Electric to develop and promote an electric vehicle-charging network for the San Diego area.

The automaker will help the power company acquire electric vehicles and will work with agencies and city departments to flesh out EV infrastructure implementation to make San Diego "plug-in ready."

SDG&E has made a commitment to bring 100 of Nissan's EV to San Diego to start, and Nissan representative Katherine Zachary said she expects zeros to be added to that number in the future.

For consumers, Nissan will publish deployment plans for … Read more

In this satire of a Nissan ad, starring Andy Richter and James Adomian, a Prius owner smugly extols the advantages the Prius has over his neighbor's car, a Hyundai Elantra, with a fatal result. Nissan denies any involvement with the production.

Probably the only race that Buick and Jaguar would finish in a tie is the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Vehicle Dependability StudySM (VDS), but both are on the top of the leader board this week. Each rank highest in vehicle dependability in a tie. Buick improves from a sixth-place ranking in 2008, while Jaguar improves from 10th place. Following in the top-five rankings this year are Lexus, Toyota and Mercury.

Toyota garners five segment awards for the Highlander, Prius, Sequoia, Solara, and Tundra. Lexus follows with four segment awards for the ES 330 (in a tie with the … Read more

At last week's Geneva auto show, we posted photos and wrote up details of the latest cars and concepts. But if you want to experience the show with an English accent, our CNET U.K. colleagues were on hand as well. Here is a selection of their coverage:

Sbarra Orbital Hybrid packs HUD but no hubs We've got video of the ludicrous Sbarro Orbital Hybrid--the concept vehicle that looks and (probably) performs like a Formula One car, but is actually kind to the environment

Honda CR-Z: Hybrid sports car Honda, purveyor of the Insight and Civic hybrids, may … Read more

Nissan recently announced a partnership with the city governments of the Tucson Metro Area and the Pima Association of Governments (PAG), a nonprofit metropolitan planning organization in the Tucson area, to help them prepare for the anticipated wave of electric cars.

Most of the market research to plan and implement an EV-charging network will be done by ECOtality, a clean-electric transportation and technology company in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Part of Nissan's role will be to help PAG acquire electric vehicles. Nissan has been promising to come out with an all-electric car in late 2010, although it won't say what it is. Nissan has been adamant that the electric vehicle will not be the prototype electric Cube that was displayed in car shows last year, but it has committed that the car will be able to get up to 100 miles on a single charge. The five-passenger compact car will be about the size of a Sentra.

The new electric car will be equipped to handle the next-generation of 440-volt fast-charging stations, says Nissan spokesperson Katherine Zachary. The fast-charging stations are able to charge Nissan's electric car in 26 minutes and will be critical to extending transportation corridors and easing consumer fears of being stranded for hours with a drained battery. … Read more