We want to thank Nissan for inviting us out and putting us up for their Formula E event in Brooklyn for the second straight year. The three-day event is filled with information on not only their Formula E docket but also on general mobility.
On consumer cars, they didn’t have much to say on the record, but we’re out here reading the body language and on our way to some information…
State of Nissan consumer electric vehicles:
- (Most of this info is known or speculated.)
- Those gorgeous IMs Sedans and IMx crossover concepts are probably going to be the next out of the gate for Nissan (no one would confirm that, even though they are the only other announced vehicles) and being actively worked on. The IMx is said to be a global rollout as the slide above indicates. Brian Maragno, Nissan North America’s director of electric vehicle sales and marketing strategy, couldn’t give specifics, but said more announcements would be imminent.
- I asked two different reps if these all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicles would be based on the AWD Nismo concept, and while nodding, they explained that lessons learned from the Nismo would be incorporated into the IMs and IMx. That bodes well, because it means that the AWD 400+kW powertrain would certainly propel those vehicles nicely. It would be interesting to see these make it to the Infiniti line as well.
- On US cars sold toward its 200K EV limit for the federal tax credit, Nissan said they are at 130,000ish and feel confident that they are going to have at least another year below the cap. They are also working with GM and Tesla on getting that cap extended through lobbying.
- On Chademo (sorry, I’m not capitalizing half those letters), they are for now sticking with the platform, though Maragno told me that they are always looking at options, including converters, for CCS Combo and Tesla DC chargers. If I can speculate here, they are reading the writing on the wall, at least for the US market, and will eventually go to CCS Combo. But that’s just my speculation. The new LEAF will charge at 100 kW Chademo if you can find a Chademo charger that powerful.
- Nissan recently completed the sale of their battery business to Envision Group.
- On the number above — 1 million electrified vehicles sold per year by 2022. The disappointing downside (there always is) is, that number includes its weird non plug hybrids that run on gas generators powering an EV drivetrain. I imagine that these things will go the way of the dinosaurs they are powered on.
- Nissan also said they would release eight EVs by 2022. That’s up from seven announced earlier this year. I asked if that was like BS Chinese partner vehicles that GM copped to earlier this year, and Nissan said, after a chuckle, that most of those are Global vehicles.
Formula E
As for the Formula E event this weekend, Nissan is mathematically eliminated from the possibility of winning the championship but are aiming for second place.
I encourage anyone in the area to come out to Red Hook in Brooklyn to watch the event (give me a shout on Twitter). Last year was brutally hot, but this year it will only be in the 80s. Besides the racing, there are a ton of showcases for all of the automakers on their new EV technologies for consumers. We’ll have a report on the Harley-Davidson Livewire from the paddocks shortly.
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