Nissan gives silent electric cars 'Blade Runner' appeal

A campaign backed by automakers and some lawmakers to make electric or hybrid cars noisier in a bid to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists has taken a strange, “Blade Runner”-type twist.

Nissan sound engineers have announced that the Leaf electric car set for release next year will emit a “beautiful and futuristic” noise similar to the sound of flying cars -- or “spinners” -- that buzz around 2019 Los Angeles in Ridley Scott’s dystopian thriller based on a Philip K. Dick science fiction novel.

“We decided that if we’re going to do this, if we have to make sound, then we’re going to make it beautiful and futuristic,” Toshiyuki Tabata, Nissan’s noise and vibration expert, told Bloomberg. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art.”

Automakers since 2007 have been exploring ways to increase the sound of electric or hybrid vehicles, which run almost silently at low speeds, after concerns were expressed by advocates for the blind and for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Nissan says its system would turn off after the car reaches 12 mph, when, it says, tire noise is deemed loud enough to warn a pedestrian or cyclist that a car is approaching.

An act going through Congress -- The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 -- would require a federal ruling on whether a minimum sound level for hybrid and electric cars is needed and, if so, for the Department of Transportation to set that limit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release a report on the issue in January. And Nissan, alongside Toyota and Honda, has responded to concerns in Japan over sound-emission safety, and in a combined report with Japanese government agencies will present its findings later this year.

Some reports suggest that in the future, car owners will download a sound for their car the way many consumers buy ring tones for their cellphones. No word yet on whether electric vehicles will -- a la “Blade Runner” replicants -- get implanted memories, though.

-- Craig Howie

Top photo: A futuristic car, or "spinner," in the 1982 film "Blade Runner." Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Bottom photo: Nissan's Leaf. Credit: EPA

Nissan electrifies crowd in Tennessee with battery talk, no pie-eating

You have to savor the irony: Tennessee – land of possum crackle and twangin' guitars – is so resolutely red it couldn’t even bring itself to tilt for native son Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. Barack Obama lost Tennessee by a whopping 400,000 votes in the presidential election of 2008. So, safe to say, dang librels ain’t welcome.

And yet, the Volunteer State is quickly becoming a haven for tree-hugging, carbon-hating, electric-car-loving progressives, in part thanks to Nissan. The company moved its U.S. headquarters to the Nashville area from Socal in 2006. Since then, Nissan – and corporate partner Renault – have aggressively pursued a battery electric vehicle (BEV) program.

On Monday, Nissan product planning and strategy director Mark Perry announced that Nissan’s plans to bring a dedicated BEV to the U.S in late 2010 remains on track, despite the ongoing autopocalypse. The car, as yet unnamed, will be comparable to a Versa in size, have a 100-mile range and be priced comparably to a conventional gas-powered car. Perry estimated a $1,350 annual saving in fueling costs as compared to a gas-powered model, and buyers will be able to claim a $7,500 federal tax credit.

“We want your payback to be immediate,” Perry said in a subsequent phone interview.

Doggone it: Car companies’ pet accessories to keep animals safe

The giant purse means well, sure. It's a practical way of keeping those tiny pups safe between shopping and brunch without the annoyance of a leash or of strangers stopping for a pat ... as long as you're not worried about shedding. And lest we forget, some of us have a best friend that weighs more than a Big Gulp.

Either way, all bets are off when the dog could roam free in the car. As one commenter said another time when Up to Speed broached the subject of in-car pet restraints, “I doubt anybody would want to get hit in the head by a dog of any size.”

Programs like Bark Buckle Up, which works with 15 auto manufacturers, teach the importance of pet safety, such as latching animals to seats for drives. And car companies have come to our aid with lines of pet accessories for both safety and messes.

Nissan to dealers: If you pay for it, we will go

A few days ago, Nissan blew more dark clouds over the industry by announcing that it would not be participating in Detroit's North American International Auto Show or in the Chicago Auto Show. Lacking any new models to unveil, it argued, it would instead bow out and save some money in these tough times, credit crunch, economic uncertainty, headwinds, etc., etc., etc.

This generated a huge amount of press. Far more than the collective bailing on Detroit by Ferrari, Suzuki, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover and Mitsubishi, the decision by one of the world's largest automakers to ditch two of the nation's four largest shows (the others being L.A. and New York) was big news.

Not so fast. This evening Nissan announced that, although it was still staying away from Detroit, it would participate in the Chicago show in February after all. There is a catch, however. Nissan isn't paying the full freight. Its dealers are picking up the cost of staffing the company's display.

"After a careful review of (the decision to withdraw) with our North Central Region management and our Chicago dealers, we have found a way to maintain a presence at the Chicago show through our dealers, while still demonstrating the fiscal responsibility required by these challenging times," said Nissan spokesman Alan J. Buddendeck in a statement.

It's a nifty trick. Get your sales-starved dealers, desperate for promotions, to foot part of the bill for an extremely spendy event. In fact, Chrysler pulled it off at the L.A. Auto Show, on now, by having its dealers pay for its booth entirely.

(A Chrysler spokesman said that's standard practice, but other car makers disagreed. And the fact that Chrysler's display has no additional overhead lighting, the only such stand at the entire show, speaks to the exceptional nature of the arrangement.)

So if three is a trend, the question is, with Chrysler and Nissan on the bandwagon, who's next to pass  at least part of the buck to their franchise-owning car salesmen pals? General Motors, anyone?

--Ken Bensinger
Photo of Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn by Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times

Tuners agree: Nissan 370Z is Z winner and still champion

It's nice when the hometown auto show occasions the global debut of a new car, nicer still when that car is the stuff of fanboy legend. A few days before last week's L.A. Auto Show -- when the redesigned 2009 Nissan 370Z was still  squirreled away under the silk sheets somewhere -- we got a hold of the car for a few days of testing and flogging.

The review will appear Dec. 5 in the dead tree edition, but here's the early juice: The car gains some much needed horsepower (now to 332 hp out of Nissan's evergreen V6 engine). The new Z is lighter and stiffer. The clunky crossbar brace in back is gone. The styling is more aggressive and flamboyant. And the car's six-speed manual offers a fantastic new feature that blips the throttle heel-and-toe style when you downshift. There are a lot of sequential gearboxes and automatics that do this, but this is the first gated shifter so equipped. Now I can wear my Allen Edmonds.

In the video we take the car to visit members of its core audience, the techs at FastAuto Works tuner shop in Arcadia. Check it out.

-- Dan Neil

Hyundai declares war on Nissan for the cheapest car

Take that, $9,990 Nissan Versa 1.6. Hyundai has made its 2009 Accent the cheapest new car on sale in America by lopping $1,100 from its MSRP, so the numbers on the screen now read $9,970. This price applies to the three-door GS model with a five-speed manual transmission.

For that kind of money, we’re still talking about a 110-horsepower, 1.6-liter engine, 27/33 mpg (city/highway), power steering and a full complement of airbags. Hyundai also has a good warranty, and serial surveyor J.D. Power & Associates declared the Accent the most dependable subcompact in its 2008 Vehicle Dependability Study.

Just a little small print on the Accent: Freight charges are an extra $695, there’s no radio as standard, plus -- of particular importance to Southern California residents -- air conditioning is an additional $1,600. Oh, and ABS brakes aren’t even on the options list for the GS. The Nissan Versa also requires $695 for freight and has a similarly sparse standard equipment list (“simplified content” is Nissan’s euphemism) -- no radio or A/C. And the Versa offers an option for ABS but not for an auto gearbox.

Still, competition and free-market forces, it’s what America’s all about.

-- Colin Ryan

Photo: Hyundai

Nissan Drops Out of Detroit and Chicago Shows

Add Nissan to the list of carmakers that are dropping out of the 2009 Detroit auto show -- and put it at the head of the list of those not appearing at Chicago's.

Citing the bad economy and a lack of new products, Nissan said today that it would not be showing its vehicles at the January event, known officially as the North American International Auto Show, making it the sxith auto company to drop out.

As first reported in the L.A. Times, Suzuki, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Land Rover also will pass on the show, once considered the most important in the world. Porsche, which dropped out of the show this past January, said it would stay out in 2009. And last week, Mitsubishi said it, too would not participate in Detroit's festivities.

In addition, Nissan said it would not participate in the Chicago Auto Show, held in February. No other carmakers have dropped from that show to date.

L.A. Auto Show exclusive: Ghosn tells all (well, more) on EV plans

In a sit-down interview with the Los Angeles Times at the L.A. Auto Show this morning, Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn spilled a few more beans on the company's ambitious electric car plans.

Ghosn said Nissan would bring an electric car to the U.S. by 2010 and would deliver it to the "mass market" worldwide by 2012. Here in the U.S., that program will start in Oregon.

According to Ghosn, the as-yet-unidentified Nissan vehicle will start with a range of 100 miles on a lithium-ion battery. But both the range and the chemical composition of the battery would probably change over time, he said, noting that the company will be working on future generations of battery technology even as it is bringing current batteries to market. "If you wait to have the perfect battery, you're going to wait until 2030," he said.

L.A. Auto Show: The Nissan Cube’s rubric

Although the Nissan Cube has been in existence long enough to enter into its third generation, only now (well, spring 2009) is it going on sale in North America. It seats up to five, features a sliding/reclining theater-style rear seat (I was just talking to a 6-footer as he sat in the back and he seemed comfortable enough), and Nissan is keen to tout its practicality and "witty" design.

L.A. Auto Show: The complete Nissan 370Z

Now we know what's in the 2009 Nissan 370Z.

Namely: a seven-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, the world's first synchronized downshift rev-matching system for the six-speed manual transmission (how many people heel-and-toe these days, anyway?), a shorter wheelbase than the 350Z (by nearly four inches) and better-quality cabin materials. Nissan says that nearly every component has been rethought or redesigned.