Nissan and Infiniti introduce fast electric cars

Nissan and its premium brand Infiniti teased an upcoming pair of electric vehicles, built in the US from 2025.

Nissan CEO Ashwani Gupta teased the two cars as part of a web radio show about the company’s factory in Canton, Mississippi, where they will be built.

The company is investing US$500 million (AU$698 million) in the plant, which first opened in 2003. It currently produces the Altima sedan and Frontier and Titan pickup trucks.

Surprisingly, the EV is not an SUV, with both taking the form of a fast sedan or a convertible. They also seem to be at least medium sized.

That could point to a new flagship sedan from the Nissan brand, which could replace the current Maxima that was introduced in 2016.

Conversely, the Infiniti could be a replacement for the old Q50, introduced in 2013. Infiniti’s passenger car line-up also has a space where the larger Q70 used to sit; it was discontinued in 2019.

These new models will likely use the CMF-EV architecture as the foundation for Nissan Ariya crossover, supporting both single-engine front-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive configurations.

The Ariya also offers a choice of 65kWh or 90kWh batteries and outputs up to 290kW of power and 600Nm of torque.

Both EVs are teased with tight overhangs and a long wheelbase as expected of a dedicated EV, and also feature full-width LED taillights.

The Nissan’s taillight bar is a straight line, while the Infiniti’s has V-shaped details.

The two cars have completely different front end treatments – the illuminated vertical bars can be found above the Infiniti logo, which connects to the headlights, while the Nissan has a similar face to the model. coming soon, Leaf-Cross arrangement.

It’s too dark to make much of a difference in the way the metal changes, although the changes don’t appear to be reciprocals of each other.

For example, both cars have unique trunk lids, while the Infiniti seems to have more rounded side details.

Nissan previously said Infiniti will become “Nissan plus”although this may not be a return to the good old days of transparent bounces like the Pathfinder-based QX4.

Infiniti may draw inspiration from the QS Inspiration concept revealed in 2019. This is said to also support petrol and hybrid powertrains.

Infiniti has also introduced the QX Inspiration crossover and Q Inspiration concept models in the past, signaling that it will launch its first EV in 2021. That never happened.

In 2019, Nissan also launched a luxury sedan concept called the IMs, which has a 115kWh battery, a range of 611 km and an output power of 360kW and 800Nm of torque.

Nissan has beaten many automakers with its all-electric punch but has since beaten its lead, and is now ready to launch its Ariya electric crossover.

A smaller crossover, previewed by last year’s Chill-Out concept, is set to replace the Leaf.

Infiniti has been even slower to adopt electrification. It recently discontinued production of the Q50 and Q70 hybrids, and canceled plans to introduce a Leaf-based compact luxury sedan in 2015.

The premium brand is yet to offer an EV and isn’t even selling any hybrids.

Late last year, Nissan announced it would spend 2 trillion yen (AU$24.6 billion) on electrification over the next five years.

Vision The company’s 2030 ambitions involve 23 electric vehicle models, including 15 new electric vehicles, which will be on the market by fiscal 2030, as well as the introduction of solid-state batteries in fiscal 2028.

Over the next five years, the company plans to introduce 20 new models with hybrid electric or e-Power powertrains.

The company says its new proprietary all-solid-state battery (ASSB) will be manufactured at a pilot plant in Yokohama as early as fiscal year 2024 before its introduction to the market in fiscal 2028.

The company claims these will cut charging time by a third and bring the cost of the battery pack down to $75/kWh in fiscal 2028 and down to $65/kWh after that.

By using cobalt-free battery technology, Nissan expects to reduce its lithium-ion battery costs by 65% ​​by fiscal year 2028.

At some unspecified point in the future, it’s expected to reach cost parity between electric and gas-powered vehicles.

It is also investing further in ProPILOT driver assistance technology, with the goal of expanding the technology to more than 2.5 million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles by fiscal 2026.

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