Production Infiniti LE When it comes to what is powering the vehicle, we’re guessing that it will be either a lightly improved version of the powertrain found in the current generation Leaf (110hp electric motor, 24 kWh lithium-ion battery pack). The Leaf has an EPA-rated driving range of 84 miles per charge; however, Nissan execs last year stated that it’s possible to improve that range further: We can do 200km (124 miles) now. But it’s a cost balance. You can go to bigger batteries, that is relatively easy, but the more interesting stuff is the changing of the chemistry to get more kW hours out of the same packaging space. - See more at: DailyTech - Production Infiniti LE Electric Sedan Leaked in Patent Drawings
Looks pretty much the same as the concept: Looks too much like an economy car to me. Seems like it'll have the same issues as the Lexus HS-250h (which looked way too much like a Corolla and had horrible sales as a result).
I don't think it looks like an economy car per se but it does look like a 2014 Nissan Sentra. I think it looks quite good for a $16k car but not for a $40k car after your company made something similar in a much cheaper line several years back.
I really feel like Nissan is dragging it's feet in getting more EV models out there. The LE won't be popular in Europe, at least. (But I'm not sure if you can even buy an Infiniti in Norway, so who cares, really...) The e-NV200 will sell moderately, but nothing like the Leaf. While Nissan is dragging it's feet, VW is really gearing up to become the largest EV car company. They have two models, both of which are fairly attractive, and have several more models in the pipeline.
In 2013 Infiniti sold a grand total of 2209 cars in Europe. Infiniti: High performance cars, photos, prices of new luxury cars Infiniti Luxusautos: Fotos, technische Daten, Preise und vieles mehr Infiniti : véhicules haute performance, voitures de luxe Infiniti Infiniti: veicoli ad alte prestazioni, nuove auto di lusso Infiniti
Europe hates sedans with a passion, so even if they were to offer the LE here, the sales would probably be no more than a few dozen. I'm guessing the Infiniti is aimed at California. Too bad for them the Model 3 is aimed at the world.
Andy Palmer is British and is probably referring to the New European Driving Cycle in which the current Nissan LEAF gets a 200 KM rating. Up to 300 NEDS kilometers is ~126 EPA miles. Andy Palmer bolted from Nissan and is now CEO of Aston Martin.
Based on the survey I'd say Leaf will target 150 miles so Infiniti should be closer to 200. My guess is Andy Palmer wanted to return to UK after a long stint in Japan ....
Infiniti headquarters are in Hong Kong and rumor is Andy was eliminated from contention of becoming CEO so he bolted. Based on everything I have read I say two batteries offered on the LEAF with top option 126 EPA miles and Infiniti at ~150 EPA miles.
Why would a car company want to show any details of its design in patent drawings? Anyone have Tesla's first patent drawings?
But in that case, when what is 'leaked' looks like every other Infiniti sedan on the road -- why? More buzz-kill than buzz-builder. I guess I should be happy they didn't make it 'different' (read: ugly) just to differentiate it...
The so-called patent "leak" of CAD drawings happened in 2012 with one of their other prototypes: VWVortex.com - Infiniti Emerg-E patent designs leaks Me thinks this is an intentional way to generate a little buzz.
If a politician says something in public, they are assumed to be lying or hiding something. If a politician says something in private, and it is leaked they are assumed to be telling the truth. So if politicians are trying to decide policy they deliberately create leaks so they can gauge public reaction to ideas. Journalists want the story so they're happy to play along. Can work the same for companies.
Andy has been living in Japan for a long time as the chief planning guy for Nissan. We'll know in a couple of years whose guess is correct
He had been living in Japan for a long time but moved to Hong Kong recently when Infiniti moved there. Much more Anglophone friendly there. Anyways, we shall see in a few years who is correct.