Infiniti is finally bringing a ‘real’ all-electric vehicle to market

After recently unveiling a new electric car concept clearly not meant for production (pictured above) last month, Infiniti’s intentions when it comes to electric cars were not exactly clear.

But now Nissan’s premium brand confirmed that it will bring a ‘real’ all-electric vehicle to market within the next 2 years.

Infiniti Design Chief Alfonso Albaisa told Autocar on the sidelines of the Monterey car week that their first electric car will be available in 2019 and that they will show a concept for the vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

Interestingly, Albaisa added that Infiniti is developing a new platform for its first electric vehicle.

That’s somewhat surprising since Nissan, Infiniti’s parent company, just developed and recently started producing its next-generation Leaf with an updated powertrain technology.

Even the new electric Infiniti “Prototype 9” that they brought to the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance used technology developed for the Leaf.

But Albaisa was clear that Infinity is developing its own electric vehicle platform to support its premium vehicles.

Electrek’s Take

In 2012, just a year after the launch of the Leaf, Infiniti unveiled its first plug-in concept, but the vehicle never made it to production.

While it’s again still only a concept that we are seeing in January, it will be an important vehicle to follow if they are committing to bringing a production version of the vehicle to market just a year later.

With every automaker having announced new electric car programs, especially premium automakers pushed by Tesla, it’s surprising that Infiniti hasn’t moved in the space sooner.

The timing of this announcement though isn’t exactly surprising since the Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi alliance recently announced that they plan to launch 12 new all-electric vehicles within the next 5 years. That new electric Infiniti is likely one of them.