Nissan to build Leaf EVs in UK
Carmakers worldwide are investing large sums in electric vehicles as they seek to meeting tightening regulations for emissions and struggle to pull themselves out of a savage industry downturn.
Nissan has already announced production of the all-electric Leaf hatchback in Japan and the United States, with the car due to go on sale at the end of this year.
The company has not specified how much the car will cost, saying only that it will be competitive with similar-sized cars with conventional engines.
Nissan, with French alliance partner Renault, are aggressive proponents of electric vehicle technology, together investing around 4 billion euros (US $5.5 billion) in electric vehicle projects.
Founded in 1984, Nissan's Sunderland factory in northeast Britain employs around 4,000 people and built its 5 millionth vehicle in June 2008.
Nissan said last month that its new Juke small crossover would be manufactured at Sunderland.
Last year it announced that it would make batteries for electric vehicles in the UK, as well as at a site in Portugal.
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Tesla updates Supercharger billing to add cost of electricity use for other than charging
LOS ANGELES - Tesla has updated its Supercharger billing policy to add the cost of electricity use for things other than charging, like HVAC, battery thermal management, etc, while charging at a Supercharger station.
For a long time, Tesla’s Superchargers were free to use, or rather the use was included in the price of its vehicles. But the automaker has been moving to a pay-to-use model over the last two years in order to finance the growth of the charging network.
Not charging owners for the electricity enabled Tesla to wait on developing a payment system for its Supercharger network.
It didn’t need…