When successful, group buys can be a very efficient way into electric vehicle ownership. They are not always successful, however, as demonstrated by a massive attempt with over 2,500 people trying to buy the Nissan LEAF in Montreal and being shut down by the automaker earlier this year.

A new group buy in Texas now has the backing of the Japanese automaker and has managed to secure some truly impressive prices – bringing the price of the electric vehicle down to $11,500 for the base option.

Update: We received reports from people attempting to get the deal and you need to use Nissan’s financing. Some have even reported “bait-and-switch” tactics. Beware going in.  expand full story

After collaborating on some development programs over their 18-year alliance, it looks like Renault and Nissan are ready for the most important collaboration yet: a common electric vehicle platform for the next generation Renault ZOE and Nissan LEAF.

While it has some interesting implications for mass production of the platform and lowering the price, you shouldn’t hold your breath since Arnaud Deboeuf, the executive in charge of the Renault-Nissan alliance, warned of a long product cycle and media reports suggest that the next generation – not to be confused with a design refresh – shouldn’t come to market until 2020. expand full story

In this week’s top stories: A first look at Tesla Model S’ Model 3-like Glass Roof and Autopilot in the wild, plans for ‘Gigafactory 2’ emerge, automakers lobby Trump, the latest solar news, and much more.

expand full story

And that’s about it. Nissan unveiled the details of its 2017 LEAF today and there’s barely anything new other than the fact that now every trim gets the 30 kWh battery pack, which lowers the entry price to get the 107-mile range. expand full story

Uber and Nissan announced today that they launched what they are referring to as “a new, major electric vehicle (EV) project”. The project starts with the trial of an all-electric fleet of 20 Nissan LEAFs in London starting in September.

The project will be studied by the Energy Savings Trust (EST) in order to “look into the feasibility of running large numbers of electric private hire vehicles in the UK.” expand full story

Earlier this month, we reported on an impressive group buy effort in Montreal that was likely going to result in Nissan’s biggest LEAF sale ever with over 2,500 people signed up. At the time, the LEAF owner behind the effort, Bruno Marcoux, told us that he was in negotiation with executives at Nissan Canada and he was hopeful they could bring the price down to $20,000 CADきゃど.

Since our report, the number of people who signed up for the group buy increased to 3,700, but in an unbelievable turn of event, Nissan Canada’s president shuts down the effort, making the potential customers furious. expand full story

EV enthusiasts are patiently (or not) awaiting some more details on Nissan’s rollout for its next generation electric vehicles, and more specifically on the upcoming 60 kWh battery pack that will power the next LEAF. Now the company is hinting at more performance electric vehicles coming to its lineup. expand full story

As we previously reported this year, LEAF sales in the US are significantly down year over year. Sales are not declining in Canada, but the market is very small for Nissan. The automaker only sells just over 1,000 LEAFs per year in the country, but a current group buy attempt, if successful, could significantly help Nissan LEAF sales in North America. expand full story

While Nissan has upgraded the LEAF’s battery pack in its latest version with now a 30 kWh option, the low energy capacity of the vehicle is still a major factor dragging it down. Potential buyers would like to see better options with more range.

Nissan engineers actually built a LEAF with a bigger battery pack, but unfortunately, it is not intended for production and was built during their spare time. expand full story

Nissan was the first to introduce an upgraded battery pack to one of the mainstream electric cars, the LEAF’s new 30 kWh pack, and was only recently followed by BMW with the i3’s new pack and soon the VW e-Golf with its 2017 battery pack.

We were expecting that the new 30 kWh pack, which brings the LEAF’s range to 107 EPA-rated miles, would help erase its poor sales performance in the US in 2015 with 17,269 units versus 30,200 in 2014, but as it turns out, Nissan’s LEAF sales are still in free-fall in the US and the Tesla Model 3 could have something to do with it. expand full story