Tag: Renault

Carlos Ghosn claims ‘plot and treason’ led to arrest

Kyodo | Reuters
A court sketch, drawn by Nobutoshi Katsuyama, shows ousted Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn during a January open hearing to hear the reason for his continued detention, at Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, Japan.

Speaking from his Tokyo prison, the former Chairman of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn told Japanese media that “plot and treason” by Nissan management led to his arrest.

In his first interview since being jailed, Ghosn told the Nikkei Asian Review on Wednesday that his plan to further integrate the automakers Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi had triggered his downfall.

Ghosn said closer integration had been discussed with Nissan President Hiroto Saikawa in September but Saikawa had excluded Mitsubishi's CEO from the talks.

The tycoon reportedly said he had “no doubt” the legal charges against him were a result of “plot and treason” by Nissan management who opposed the strategy.

According to Ghosn, people who wanted to remove him from his role had also created a false image that his reign was a dictatorship.

“People translated strong leadership to dictator, to distort reality,” Ghosn said.

Nissan confirms SEC inquiry into company payment practices
7:29 AM ET Mon, 28 Jan 2019 | 00:38

Ghosn, along with former Nissan Director Greg Kelly, have now spent more than 70 days in jail.

Japanese prosecutors claimed the pair failed to declare around $43 million in deferred compensation between the years of 2010 and 2015. Ghosn is also accused of transferring personal trading losses to the company books.

Nissan has also separately accused Ghosn of receiving improper payments as well as using a third-party to purchase luxury properties in Rio de Janeiro and Beirut. The Brazilian-born businessman denies all the charges.

When asked about his health, the 64-year-old said he was “doing fine” and that life in the detention center was “up and down.”

On suggestions that he is being kept in prison as he is considered a flight risk, Ghosn responded: “I won't flee, I will defend (myself).”

French auto firm Renault holds a 43 percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds 15 percent of Renaults stock and a 34 percent stake in Mitsubushi Motors.

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Avinew Raises $5M in Seed Funding

Dan Peate Avinew, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based insurtech company focused on autonomous and semi-autonomous auto insurance, raised $5M in seed funding. The round was led by Crosscut, with participation from American Family Ventures, Draper Frontier, and RPM Ventures. Led by Dan Peate, Founder and CEO, Jeremy Snyder, COO, Mike Cassanego, General Counsel and Co-founder, and… Continue reading Avinew Raises $5M in Seed Funding

Bestmile teams with StreetDrone to add autonomous & connected vehicle management to Xenos platform

Bestmile, a mobility services platform used to plan, manage, and optimize autonomous and human-driven vehicle fleets, announced that it has partnered with StreetDrone, maker of intelligent, connected self-driving technology. The integration of the Bestmile Mobility Services Platform into StreetDrone’s Xenos platform enables StreetDrone to offer a complete vehicle and mobility service operating system. Aside from major… Continue reading Bestmile teams with StreetDrone to add autonomous & connected vehicle management to Xenos platform

Ghosn says Nissan executives used ‘plot and treason’ to halt Renault integration: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) – Carlos Ghosn said Nissan executives opposed to his plans for closer ties with automaking partner Renault SA resorted to “plot and treason” to disrupt them and were behind the financial misconduct allegations against him. FILE PHOTO: Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, poses after the Renault’s 2015 annual results… Continue reading Ghosn says Nissan executives used ‘plot and treason’ to halt Renault integration: Nikkei

Mitsubishi Motors Carves a New Creation for Geneva

TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mitsubishi Motors is famous for carving its own niche. Soon its latest creation will be revealed, bringing more SUV capability, EV efficiency, technology and style to the lineup. Named after a beautiful, rugged Alpine town with a history of sporting success, the MITSUBISHI ENGELBERG TOURER will make its debut at the Geneva International Motor… Continue reading Mitsubishi Motors Carves a New Creation for Geneva

Renault-Nissan group sold most cars last year, but VW’s No.1 including trucks

FILE PHOTO: An attendee takes a photograph of Volkswagen cars at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook TOKYO (Reuters) – Volkswagen Group has held on to its position as the world’s top-selling automaker for the fifth year in a row, although the German group was edged… Continue reading Renault-Nissan group sold most cars last year, but VW’s No.1 including trucks

UPDATE 2-Japan’s Akebono Brake seeking capital from Toyota, debt relief

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Akebono Brake Industry Co Ltd is seeking a capital infusion from top shareholder Toyota Motor Corp and a moratorium on debt repayment as part of a revival plan, sending its shares tumbling by a quarter on Wednesday. The brake maker, a supplier to automakers including General Motors Co which makes up about… Continue reading UPDATE 2-Japan’s Akebono Brake seeking capital from Toyota, debt relief

Some of the fastest electric-car chargers were down: Would anyone have noticed yet? (Updated)

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Electrify America DC fast chargers
UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning Electrify America said that it is “restoring full capacity to its entire network” after the potentially affected charging cables cleared extensive testing, and it called the original incident spurring the shutdown “an isolated event” at a private facility with a prototype cable. Thus, we updated the story title to reflect that they “were down” rather than “are down.”

Electric car owners who are planning to use the DC fast chargers that are part of the Electrify America network may want to allow a little extra time in their plans over the coming days and weeks.

That’s because on Friday, Electrify America made a decision to shut down all of its charging connectors that can run up to 150-kw and 350-kw on the CCS (Combo) standard.

DON’T MISS: Electrify America switches on the first 350 kw station

The list of vehicles that today can potentially use CCS fast charging above 50 kw is very limited. The Jaguar I-Pace charges at 100 kw, and the Hyundai Kona Electric peaks at just over 70 kw. Deliveries of the Audi e-tron, the first vehicle that can truly take advantage of the full 150 kw, don't start for another few months.

With I-Pace deliveries settling in at maybe a couple hundred a month and the Kona Electric just starting, that’s a total of just 600-700 vehicles currently in use in all of the U.S., by our estimates.

All of those 150-kw and 350-kw connectors are normally, however, perfectly compatible with a 50-kw charge. So in the present electric-car landscape, what it really means is that there will be fewer plugs available for a time.

CHECK OUT: Electrify America launches “Jetstones” ad campaign

It should be noted that this same issue affects charges on the Fastned and Ionity networks in Europe, where more vehicles are likely directly affected. Tesla for instance is already providing CCS compatibility for European vehicles, at up to 120 kw, but not in the U.S.

The higher-power hardware affected by the issue uses cooled charging cables supplied by Switzerland-based supplier Huber+Suhner, which notes that at a test site in Germany a short circuit occurred in the charging plug (connector). The liquid cooling system for the cables wasn’t the issue, and as of Monday was still troubleshooting the situation.

Electrify America DC fast chargers in Gulfport, Mississippi

The issue affects all DC fast chargers from Electrify America that can charge at more than 50 kw. It doesn’t affect 50-kw CCS fast chargers, or Level 2 chargers.

READ MORE: Electrify America lays out plans for second round of chargers in California

If you drive a Nissan Leaf, you’re also in luck. According to Electrify America, all 89 of its locations currently have charging up and running through their 50-kw CHAdeMO connectors. Most of those multi-connector stations also offer CCS (Combo) charging connectors at 50 kw that are unaffected by this issue as the cables are from another supplier, ITT Cannon.

The decision to shut down the U.S. chargers was made, as Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo put it in an official statement, “out of an abundance of caution.”

Both Electrify America and Huber+Suhner indicated that they’re seeking to resolve this issue as quickly as possible—although the chargers won’t be available again until the Swiss supplier completes an investigation and makes a decision about the remedy.

SUVs hardest hit as used car values fall in January

Used car values dropped 0.7% in January as dealers saw lower retail demand for vehicles priced over £12,000. The drop was larger than the seasonal trend, where over the last five years the movement in Black Book Live for January was an average of -0.4%. A downward trend was seen for all mainstream sectors, but… Continue reading SUVs hardest hit as used car values fall in January

Public EV Charging Is Often Free: Observations From ChargePoint

There are still a lot of myths and misunderstandings about EV infrastructure. Few people in the EV business have as much experience as Darryll Harrison. Before becoming ChargePoint’s director of global communications in 2016, Harrison managed comms for the launch of three different electric vehicles. He worked at Nissan in 2008 and 2009 leading up… Continue reading Public EV Charging Is Often Free: Observations From ChargePoint