Nissan Altima Earns Top Safety Pick+

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has given the 2016 Nissan Altima it's highest designation, the Top Safety Pick+.  The Altima rated as "Superior" in crash avoidance and mitigation, when equipped with optional Forward Emergency Braking. 

 

This latest announcement, along with 2016 Nissan Rogue and Sentra earning TSP designations, gives Nissan North America's three top selling vehicles TSP or better ratings and underscores Nissan's commitment to safety throughout its lineup.

 

The IIHS requires a "Good" or better rating in all five crashworthiness segments to earn the "Top Safety Pick" and making an available front crash prevention system mandatory for all awards.  The five categories are: small overlap front test, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints and seats. 

Michael Bunce, vice president, Product Strategy and Planning for Nissan North America, Inc. says, "Nissan is very proud to have our best-selling vehicle recognized by IIHS for excellence in vehicle safety.  Like the new Maxima and Murano, Altima sets high standards in a very competitive class for styling, performance and value as well as safety. We at Nissan are gratified to see that another of our core models has been recognized for excellent design and vehicle safety."

 

 Predictive Forward Collision Warning and Forward Emergency Braking

This available system uses radar to constantly monitor not just one vehicle ahead in your lane, but two.  When it detects sudden deceleration, it gives you an audible warning and a visual signal on the instrument panel.  Forward Emergency Braking keeps an eye on your speed and proximity to the vehicle ahead and can apply brakes if you fail to respond. 

 

You can see our selection of the award winning 2016 Nissan Altima and our entire inventory of new and used vehicles at www.lujacknissan.com. 

 

Nissan Aims for Ethanol-Based Hydrogen Fuel Cell by 2020

 

Nissan has been leading the way in alternative-fuel powered cars, particularly with the Nissan Leaf EV (electric vehicle).  Now, Nissan has announced that, possibly as early as 2020 the introduction of a fuel-cell powered powertrain, using ethanol as a means to generate hydrogen by way of a special reformer.  The fuel cell is referred to as a solid oxide fuel cell, or SOFC. 

 

 

This effectively by-passes the problem of hydrogen fueling stations.  Because, let's face it, if the US hasn't been able to make CNG (compressed natural gas) readily available, then having hydrogen fueling stations in enough abundance to make hydrogen fuel-cell cars practical may well be a pipe dream.  With ethanol already accessible, being able to convert ethanol to hydrogen on-board solves any number of practicality issues. 

 

Further reducing costs, Nissan is estimating that an ethanol to fuel ratio of 55:45 could be used.  Other attractive features of the system are than the car could use a more traditional fuel tank, and use an existing fuel-delivery system to supply the ethanol.

 

There are still plenty of issues to be worked out, including the heat produced by the reformer, but Nissan seems confident that by 2020, they will have a market-ready product.