Want to sample an electric car before committing to buying one? You’ll have the option of renting the Nissan Leaf by the end of next year, if you’re travelling to or living in Quebec.
Communauto is the first car-sharing program in North America to confirm the availability of a full, highway capable electric vehicle, initially in and around Montreal and Quebec City, by the end of 2011. In the United States, rental car agency Hertz has announced that some Leafs would be available for rent in the U.S. and Europe near the beginning of next year, but so far no Canadian rental car agency has announced plans to make the five-door electric Prius-fighters available here.
Hertz says it has plans to add Leaf models to its global “Connect by Hertz” car-sharing program as well, but didn’t give a time frame for that program to launch, either in Canada or the U.S.
The launch date for the Leaf in Québec, as well as with Communauto, is an ambiguous “before the end of 2011.” If it arrives in December of next year, that would be a year after it is launched in select areas of the U.S., likely to allow for extra research into the cold weather capabilities of the Leaf’s plug-in lithium-ion batteries. This time would also allow infrastructure upgrades like public charging stations to be installed around each target city, with Vancouver, Québec City, and Montreal so far the only Canadian cities confirmed to receive the Leaf in 2011.
A larger, mainstream rollout of electric Nissan vehicles is planned for 2012 in the U.S., when a family of electric vehicles based on the Leaf are expected to become available.
Extinction for V-10 sports car engines?
The future does not look bright for the high performance V-10 engine. BMW has just confirmed that its next M5 super sedan will switch its current 10-cylinder monster motor for a twin turbo V-8, while Dodge’s V-10 Viper will be off the market by this fall.
BMW’s M manager confirmed to German magazine Auto Bild that the new-gen M5 would feature powerplants similar to those in the high-power M versions of BMW’s X5 and X6 sport-utes. The smaller but more powerful powerplant will likely arrive with more power than the already beastly 555 available in the super M SUVs, however. That new M5 is expected to arrive in the second half of 2011, as is a revised 6-Series coupe and convertible.
Yet these new generation two-doors likely won’t have a performance M version, according to a report in Britain’s Autocar magazine, suggesting that BMW will introduce a more performance-oriented model better able to compete with the Audi R8 and Mercedes-Benz SLS.
These BMWs may be the last V-10 engines on the market by then, at least outside of heavy-duty trucks, since the Dodge Viper will end production by the end of the summer, at least in its current form.
Could this mark the end for road-going V-10 engines? Given increasing fuel economy standards, it appears so, although there is still the Lamborghini Gallardo on the market as a V-10 holdout, plus plenty of V12 options.
Five SUVs ‘marginal’ in rollover protection
Some surprising results by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety U.S. lobby group found that five of 12 mid-size SUVs featured what they termed “marginal” rollover protection, even though they all clearly passed the mandated roof crush safety standards.
The recently released Honda Accord Crosstour featured the lowest test score of all 12 tested mid-sized crossovers/SUVs, followed by the Mitsubishi Endeavor, and Honda Pilot. The next lowest scores were given to the Nissan Murano and Mazda CX-7. All had strength-to-weight ratios between 2.82 and 3.23, well above the mandated 1.5 minimum, but all below the 3.25 level the IIHS deems as its lowest “acceptable” score.
