It may be a bit of a stretch to say that Nissan has gone all in with its EV gamble. But the truth is that Nissan is banking heavily on the success of their electric vehicles. They’re off to a decent start with the LEAF on the road and two more EV’s in the works, an Infiniti compact and a Nissan cargo van. But now the question is, what kind of EV should Nissan build next?There are currently three contenders for Nissan’s next EV efforts; a small city car, a sports car, or a crossover. The city car would have global appeal, a sports car with garner interest in EV’s, and a crossover would arguably be the most practical.
Well, if you’re asking me, I’d like to see Nissan go out and take a chance with their next EV. What I mean by that is, they should make an electric sports car based off of the rear-wheel drive ESFLOW concept. I’m not sure I see the need for a small city car when they LEAF is already up for sale. Perhaps a small two-seater is what they had in mind? Sorry, I can’t really get excited about that.
Nor can I get excited about an electric crossover. The larger size and heavier weight would almost certainly hurt range, and I can’t see soccer moms flocking to a vehicle that might leave them stranded while running errands. Besides, I always saw crossovers as more long distance driving vehicles.
But a sports car? The only people buying an electric sports car would be people who can afford the luxury of owning a sports car. This already means making sacrifices like rear seat legroom, trunk space, and fuel economy. Obviously, building an electric sports car could also result in serious range limitations if people drive it hard. But it could also inject some excitement into the EV market.
Imagine a rear-drive Nissan electric sports car as fast as a V8 Mustang and priced about the same. Sure, it might not go as far, but we all know that electric motors produce a ton of torque at 0 RPM. Nissan wouldn’t even have to go after the 400+ hp Mustang though; they could make a lightweight Miata or Genesis Coupe fighter. It doesn’t have to have Tesla Roadster performance (though that’d be nice.)
Imagine a rear-drive Nissan electric sports car as fast as a V8 Mustang and priced about the same. Sure, it might not go as far, but we all know that electric motors produce a ton of torque at 0 RPM. Nissan wouldn’t even have to go after the 400+ hp Mustang though; they could make a lightweight Miata or Genesis Coupe fighter. It doesn’t have to have Tesla Roadster performance (though that’d be nice.)
I just want an electric car that I can get excited about for all the wrong reasons…speed, handling, and dynamic, sexy looks for about the same cost as the current Nissan LEAF. A tall order? Sure. But who ever got ahead by taking the easy way out?
Source: cleantechnica.com
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