Is there a Nissan competitor to the BMW i8 in the works? A senior executive has hinted there might be.
Speaking to Auto Express, senior vice-president Shiro Nakamura said an electric sports car is one option the automaker is considering for its upcoming modular vehicle platform.
The key, said Nakamura, is the placement of the batteries, as placing them under the floor (like in the Nissan Leaf) would raise the ride height too much — something they wouldn’t be worried about if it were a utility-minded model.
Nissan engineers are currently mulling ways of integrating a battery pack into the new architecture.
As one of the first automakers to bring a fully-electric vehicle to market, Nissan wants to branch out and become a bigger player in the EV game. That means joining other automakers in planning a line of electric models, rather than a one-off.
“We’re the leading EV manufacturer, but I don’t think we can make it just off one EV, so we want to grow the portfolio – that’s our next plan,” Nakamura told Auto Express. “It could be a crossover, it could be a sports car; we see much more opportunity for EVs than just a hatchback.”
Nissan’s past concept cars could hint at its future offerings. In 2011 it unveiled the Esflow electric sports car concept, and last year showed off the Gripz — a hybrid sport crossover — at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Whatever form it takes, Nakamura figures a non-Leaf Nissan EV won’t be available for another five years.
Nissan embarked on the modular platform trend via a joint venture with its strategic partner Renault in 2013. The next generation of the platform is being designed to accommodate a range of propulsion sources, a cost-saving measure being adopted by other automakers, among them Subaru.
[Image: Nissan Motor Company]
Everyone is gonna pile on to EV and PHEV.
Tesla is gonna have…
…problems.
Everyone’s gonna pile in.
This is actually a “nice” concept.
No thanks though…
Not necessarily. People don’t just buy Teslas because they are the only long-range EVs on the market. They buy them for the experience. As long as they have time to establish themselves as the “Apple” of cars and manage to turn an actual profit within the next four years, they should be fine. By then they will have cultivated a large number of brand-loyalists.
I don’t think there are so many customers who will put up with the kind of teething issues and quality problems that the Model S has shown (and the Model X white seats tearing after a few days of use doesn’t make it seem any better in this regard). These are the same type of customers that put up with a Range Rover going to the shop once a month, and have other cars to drive in the interim.
The early adopters who HAD to have the Tesla in the first few years will put up with that, but they’re going to cultivate bitter fans like VW and Subaru have if their mainline products have similar numbers of problems. The customer without spare cars and who doesn’t buy expensive unreliable cars will not put up with these quality issues. These will be people coming from Camrys, Civics, and Accords and expecting a similar experience sans oil changes or refueling.
Without fixing that, they aren’t going to create a big band of loyal customers who evangelize the brand for them.
Entirely correct. Which is why they have to get the Model 3 right.
Nissan’s lame dealer based charging network is a joke. Kelly Nissan in Woburn MA likes to display used cars in the CHAdeMO charging spot. Bouchard Nissan in Lancaster MA only allows you to get a level 3 charge if you bought your Leaf from them. Many dealers only allow charging during business hours. Commonwealth Nissan charges $6. So, tell me exactly how these idiots are going to compete with Tesla?
and Musk just nailed the landing on that floating platform. If push comes to shove, you can bet those launch fee dollars will keep Tesla going.
No way. EVs lose money, and other mfrs will be happy to watch Tesla sink if they can’t eventually make money on them.
And I say this as a former Leaf owner, and a current Model 3 reservist.
I agree. Not many automakers “want” an EV in their line-up but it is being forced upon them by the US government’s zealousness with lies about what EVs have to offer for America, through mandates and legislation.
EVs have nothing to offer me, and millions upon millions of other drivers like me.
Good old ICE’s will be around for a very long time yet and all things EV will continue to lose money for their makers.
It’s one thing to be able to buy a Tesla as a trophy toy. It’s quite another for Joe Sixpack and Sally Homemaker to jump on the expensive EV bandwagon. Pickup trucks, SUVs, CUVs and Minivans still rule the day and will for decades more to come.
The first computers cost a million dollars. Now you can get one for $200. The first Tesla sedans cost 100 grand. Soon they’ll sell you one for a third of that.
Today’s Tesla driver is like yesterday’s Hispano-Suiza or Duesenberg driver whooshing past the sunburned farmer on his trusty mule. “Who needs those dang things anyway!” the farmer grouses unconvincingly, chomping harder on his stalk of wheat. But before long, the farmer has a car of his own, though he still disdains sissified features like an enclosed cabin and cushy pneumatic tires…until a few years later, when he’s buying a de-luxe new car.
The Tesla is today’s Doozy. The short-range affordable EV is today’s Model T. We’ve seen this movie before, and it only goes in one direction: forward. Maybe faster than last time.
In other news, this Nissan concept looks like an atomic cockroach from a postwar Japanese horror film.
Actually, EVs are profitable. Gross margins on the Model S are approaching 30%! When you’re building a car company from scratch like Tesla, it’s takes a lot of cash. As a whole, they’re losing money now, but there’s a healthy margin on the cars themselves. they won’t be at the levels of cash burn they’re at now forever. If you’re an established company with factories and infrastructure, it wouldn’t take long to make a profit. Battery costs are under $150 per kWh. That puts the old 24kWh battery in the original Leaf at $3600. A Bolts 60 kWh battery is about $9,000 now. New manufacturing techniques (cutting electrode manufacturing time from 22+ hrs to 1 minute) will easily get them to $100 (or below) per kWh bringing a Leaf 1.0 battery to just $2400 and a Bolt battery at just $6000. Part of my business is in robotics – which are sort of EVs with arms and legs, so I have battery manufacturers after my business. I’ve seen some interesting stuff that’s moving out of the labs and you can bet auto manufacturers are seeing the same thing.
Model S Margins:
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-4CW8X0/1829879467x0x874449/945B9CF5-86DA-4C35-B03C-4892824F058D/Q4_15_Tesla_Update_Letter.pdf
Battery Costs:
http://insideevs.com/lg-chem-ticked-gm-disclosing-145kwh-battery-cell-pricing-video/
The lambo doors went out of style in the 90s guys. Gull doors are one thing, but lambo doors just look cheap and unimaginative.
And are those exhaust pipe outlets I see?
Does it say anywhere that the pictured car is electric?
True.
Yes, there are exhaust outlets.
Did they just take a Hotwheels car and put it on a press release?
Seriously Nissan, what the hell is that?
Nissan Designers: “Run! Von and Kobo1d are on to us!”
Well, whatever poor soul styled the Aztek can hang his head a little higher, now that someone has out-uglied him.
Nissan is clueless. They went from #1 to #3, and will soon be around #6 in the market.
More Model Xs were shipped in March than Leafs.
It’s becoming apparent that Mr Musk is right about the value of a direct sales and support model – my dealer experience with my former Leaf was pretty bad. They would have preferred I bought any other car, and they clearly didn’t understand how to deal with mine.
I assume the dealers push other vehicles because they want the money from oil changes and other recommended services?
I think the additional costs of any vehicle equipped with an additional battery and electric motor, whether that be a Highlander, Camry, Prius, Volt, whatever, is just not justifiable, not even when gas costs $5/gal.
I’m all for choice but, like the vast majority of Americans, I’ll buy a gasoline powered vehicle with the biggest engine available.
“…my dealer experience with my former Leaf was pretty bad…”
SCE: did you have any major problems with your Leaf that required dealing with the Service Dept.?
How… wait. What?
Batteries would raise the ride height? How do they explain the BMW i8, Fisker Karma, Tesla Model S and the slew of converted PHEVs like the A3 and Prius that are just fine? I feel like they are building a collection of excuses to ditch the Z and replace it with a CUV.
I think they have other options, personally. The Maxima and Z are knocking on heavens door. They should combine the two and make a performance hybrid. If they can make a sporty AWD 4 door with a high performance hybrid drivetrain…. kind of like a cross between an A7 and a Model S… I think they will have something interesting.