On today’s show… Nissan wants to sell more of its high-performance NISMO cars, BMW creates a hydrogen re-fueling station for the future and Toyota says its FT-4X concept isn’t far off from being production ready. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

WAYMO BUYS MORE PACIFICA HYBRIDS
Late last year, Waymo, Google’s autonomous ridesharing service, purchased 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans from FCA and equipped them with its self-driving technology. The company has been testing them with a limited number of people but now it’s ready to expand the service. It’s inviting residents in the Phoenix area to apply to try the vehicles out in their everyday lives. To support this expansion, Waymo is buying an additional 500 Pacifica Hybrids from FCA and will use feedback from the users to improve the technology.

HYDROGEN STATION OF THE FUTURE
Public hydrogen re-fueling stations are pretty rare but if fuel cell cars catch on, a lot more are going to be needed. And to give us an idea of what they could look like in the future, Shell commissioned BMW’s design studio subsidiary, Designworks to create a new hydrogen dispenser. Current ones are based on gasoline or diesel pumps but this one is simple looking and hides all of its mechanical parts. The screen on the dispenser displays info like refueling time, price or it lets users access a map to check out route details. The nozzle has been reworked and kind of almost looks like an EV plug. It too features a display to help guide users through the re-fueling process. The new dispenser, called Oasis, is on display this week at the Hanover Fair in Germany. And for a closer look at the viability of fuel cell cars, check out our recent Autoline This Week, with representatives from Honda, GM and the National Renewable Energy Lab to hear their take on the issue. You can watch that show on Autoline.tv or just look for it on our YouTube channel.

And we’ll be back with more right after this.

TOYOTA FT-4X NEARLY PRODUCTION READY
Earlier this month at the New York Auto Show, Toyota took the wraps off a boldly designed SUV concept called the FT-4X. But even though the styling is fairly radical, the President of Toyota’s CALTY research center, Kevin Hunter, told Autoline that the concept isn’t far off from being production ready.

(Clip with Toyota’s Kevin Hunter can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

You can watch that full discussion and our other New York show interviews on Autoline.tv, just look for the Autoline on the Road section, or you can find them on our YouTube channel.

NISSAN GIVES NISMO A BOOST
Nissan’s first NISMO branded mainstream car came out in 2013 and today NISMO sells about 15,000 vehicles branded with its name around the globe. But it wants to boost that business. So, Nissan has created a new unit, called The NISMO Cars Business Department to do just that. It will draw talent from several companies within the Nissan Group to expand the NISMO range into new segments, market them more globally, boost the lineup in existing markets and work to develop the products in a shorter amount of time. As part of this plan you’ll finally start to see NISMO branded road cars in Nissan dealerships and showrooms.

Coming up next, without the new Honda Ridgeline, mid-size truck sales would be down this year. We’ll take a closer look right after this.

FIRST QUARTER MID-SIZE TRUCK SALES
The mid-size pick-up segment has seen a resurgence in the U.S. over the last couple of years, thanks to new trucks from GM, Toyota and Honda. In the first three months of the year, sales were just below 100,000 units, up 2.5% compared to the first quarter in 2016. But even though the segment was up, most mid-size trucks actually saw sales slide. The Toyota Tacoma is number one, with over 43,000 sold in Q1, which is down 2.5%. The Chevy Colorado is next at over 22,000 units sold, down a little over 1%. And the long in the tooth, Nissan Frontier saw its sales plunge 27%. Honda sold more than 9,700 Ridgeline’s, however we can’t compare it to the year before since it wasn’t on sale yet. But without those sales, the entire mid-size segment would be down. And based on the other results, it does appear the new Ridgeline could be stealing sales from its competition. The GMC Canyon was down slightly in the first quarter as well. The overall car market is down so far this year in the U.S., so it will be interesting to see if the mid-size truck segment will continue to grow.

BOLLINGER’S BOX ON WHEELS
And speaking of trucks, here’s an interesting EV startup worth keeping an eye on. Bollinger Motors will unveil its prototype this year for the world’s first all-electric off-road and on-road sport truck. The vehicle doesn’t have a name yet, but it does have a unique setup. It starts with an all aluminum frame. Bolted to that are dual electric motors, portal gearboxes, in-board mounted brakes and an adjustable a hydropneumatic suspension. Bollinger says it will have best-in-class horsepower, torque, ground clearance and power to weight ratio. One thing it won’t have is a complex design. The vehicle looks to be the true definition of a Box on Wheels.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.