To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the world’s bestselling electric car, Nissan LEAF. This pilot program, which puts six LEAF taxis into service beginning this spring, will help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets.

The luxury electric vehicle has landed – star of the New York International Auto Show is the Infiniti LE. Officially it’s still a concept but Infiniti admits that a production version of the sleek zero-emission sedan will hit the streets within the next two years “in near-similar form”.

Like the stunning Infiniti EMERG-E range-extender sports concept that wowed the Geneva Motor Show, the LE Concept combines a sweeping aerodynamic body – with a Cd figure of just 0.25 – with an elegant interior, inspired driving dynamics and advanced next-generation technology. The difference, of course, is that the LE is a 100 per cent pure electric vehicle.

With auto show season in full swing, the annual New York show provides a good balance between two of the major global shows in Geneva and Beijing/Shanghai. Last week I attended the first media day and overall, the mood seemed cautiously optimistic, boosted by many new product intros.