INFINITI is Getting Ready to Join the Electric Car Market

April 26th, 2018 by
The new platform will be designed to house two different powertrains that will drive all newly redesigned INFINITI vehicles for 2021: Either a pure electric, battery-driven motor, or Nissan’s e-Power range extender hybrid setup. The platform is based on the Q Inspiration concept vehicle that was unveiled at this year’s Detroit auto show to presage a next-generation top-tier sedan.
The platform will be scalable to cover the entire INFINITI lineup, except the full-sized QX80 SUV, Krueger said Monday at an INFINITI design event ahead of the Beijing auto show.
The Q Inspiration points toward a next-generation Q70 sedan, or possibly a halo vehicle one wrung above, dangling the idea of a Q80.
“We’re trying to create an image, so why not start with a halo,” Krueger said.
A new electrified vehicle built on the platform will be one of five new vehicles INFINITI plans to add to local production in China over the next five years.
The platform will be able to accommodate a small four-cylinder variable-compression turbo engine and electric motor in the front compartment and another electric motor in the back for all-wheel drive, said Francois Bancon, who leads connectivity and autonomous driving development at INFINITI. A third motor can also be added for more performance, he said.
That would push total output to over 400 hp, Bancon said.
Going electric is key to INFINITI’s growth strategy, especially in China, where government mandates require increasingly levels of electrification. INFINITI says that by 2025, more than half of its new vehicles sold in China will be electrified.

 

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