Recharge Wrap-up: Heuliez EV bus, 550 Nissan EV taxis in Europe

Europe boasts over 550 Nissan electric taxis. With over 100 electric taxis shipped to companies European companies in 2015, this puts Nissan in the top spot for providing Europe's electric cabs. The Netherlands has the most, with 27 Nissan Leafs and 167 e-NV200s. The UK has a total of 134 electric Nissan taxis, most of them Leafs. Estonia has 74, Hungary has 68 and Germany rounds out Nissan's top five countries for electric taxis with 30. Nissan also has plans to deliver eight electric taxis to Lithuania by the end of the year. Read more at Green Car Congress.

French bus manufacturer Heuliez Bus has launched its first battery electric bus. The 12-meter GX 337 ELEC uses a 175 kW electric motor and is equipped for all-day use. It will go into testing under the French public transport operator RATP. Heuliez Bus has sold about 400 hybrid buses, and makes up about 24 percent of the French bus market. Read more at Green Car Congress.

Researchers at Toyota Research Institute of North America have created a nanostructured sulfur cathode that can help improve battery performance. Using a layer-by-layer self-assembly technique, the cathode features an ion-selective polymer membrane. The sulfur helps the battery achieve high rates of charge and discharge, while the membrane helps prevent problems like a quickly fading capacity. Toyota's cathodes, with their "truffle-like architecture," can operate at a rate of 2C over 500 cycles with nearly 100 percent coulombic efficiency. Read more at Green Car Congress.