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Nissan’s Infiniti hybrid prototype has now been road tested; and while it didn’t fail spectacularly, it certainly is not up to scratch.
First, Nissan is not debuting with a new brand for its hybrid technology like Toyata did with the Prius, but has rather chosen a familiar nameplate ala Infiniti. This could hurt them, or help them; it is too early to say.
Nissan is joining the melee with the Infiniti G35 in the green-car race, but it’ll need to work out the kinks. Awkward lag occurs when the new engine tries to kick in to help the electric motor and deceleration is jerky because of the battery regeneration.
The point of a hybrid is generally about fuel economy, but busts out the big guns. The Infiniti G35 is a V6. A power hybrid. Nissan’s electric motors are also powered by the smaller and lighter lithium-ion batteries, while Toyota and Honda have chosen to continue with nickel hydride in their current generations. Nissan’s emphasis from a power angle may follow in the footsteps of Honda’s V6 Accord hybrid and turn out to be a sales flop because of the price difference.
Currently, the Infiniti G35 gets around 40 percent better mileage than its non-hybrid counterpart. Nissan is aiming to keep the price difference under $5,000, which is fairly substantial.
Our take? Putting a hybrid in a race car seems to be a contradiction in of itself. But the market has changed and there is no accounting for taste. We’ll have to wait and see how this turns out.
via AutoWeek
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