Its pretty clear that ALL cars will have “hybrid” drivetrains in 10 years. Batteries and start/stop alternators are the “hybrid” drivetrains of today and will be “normal” in the near future….so they won’t be “Hybrid”….just normal. Such a BIG statement out of a “disfunctional” car company chasing its tail at the moment…

Agreed
The Essence is a sweet concept, but the front fascia still needs work.
Lexus is quite a bit in front of them on this trajectory
Leadership is not an Infiniti strong point
I don’t know that too many makers will fit on that bandwagon
DrFill

How hard could that actually be? Almost all current Infinitis are based on the same FM platform and share the same basic VQ V6 motor. Nissan has already said they are working on a diesel VQ for the Maxima, and now a hybrid version for the Fuga (Infiniti M).. so what’s preventing this from happening much sooner, say within 3 years?

Ha, this coming from the Nissan parent company who a year ago said that they didn’t care about hybrids.

Kaizen:

A year ago:

1) Oil future prices were still at about $60 and not yet at their summertime peak of $140 per bbl. Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. hadn’t yet hit $4.85/ gallon. Minimum wage earners in large cities with longish commutes hadn’t yet had to work 2 hours to clear enough to pay for their daily gasoline needs.

2) The NHTSA hadn’t implemented its passenger car CAFE regulations for 2012 (31.2 mpg combined cycle) and 2015 (35.7 mpg combined cycle) and the huge penalties for non-compliance.

3) Infiniti sold nearly 60% more vehicles then than it does now.

4) Everyone was still denying that there existed a housing bubble and that we were headed for the worst recession since that which followed the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

5) The Chevy Volt was on GM’s back burner while GM was planning to make huge sales strides on all these RWD platformed cars (coming from Holden) stuffed full of small block V-8s.

At least Nissan has the brains, the guts and the money to change their course.

Infiniti isn’t a leader? A brand that has more than doubled its US sales since 2001?

A brand getting ready to launch in Europe to glowing reviews from the European press.

Last I heard is that Infiniti is part of the world’s fourth largest automaker, Renault/ Nissan.

That same company that is spending $1 Billion of its own capital in the next 5 years to build viable plug-in electric passenger car fleets for consumption in Israel, Denmark and Portugal. 65,000 of its electric plug -ins scheduled to be up and running in those markets by 2012. The same company scheduled to update its Smyrna, Tennessee plant to build enough plug-in electrics to replace the municipal government car fleets in San Francisco, Portland, much of Marin County, CA by 2011.

The same company that is spending $200 million of its own money to build the Li-Ion batteries co-developed withe NEC rather than rely on outside suppliers as will GM for its Volt.

i love Lamborghini , they said they will never make hybrids.

Just think of all the additional cost for these vehicles. Perhaps we will never see 17 million cars/year here in the US again. An extra $4000 will cut down the sales.

The only way to get hybrid technology to be inexpensive enough for mass-market is to spread it around. It won’t be much at first… but even savings of just 5MPG over a gasoline engine alone will be worth it. It is certainly a stupid statement to say that all Infinitis will be hybrids in 10 years… all mass-market cars period will be hybridized by then… they are just trying to draw attention to themselves. It’s kinda like Obama saying “Things will get better.” Of course they will… eventually.

Like it or not gasoline prices will be back above $3/gal within the next 2 years. The only reason they are hovering under $2 right now is because the economy is in the ****ter. We haven’t even hit bottom yet… so it will be at least 2010 before things start to move in a positive direction again, it may even take to 2012 before we see any real improvement in conditions… so all any of these companies can do is hunker down and try to ride out the storm. With demand for new cars dropping like a stone maybe the manufacturers should think about suspending new model development for the next year or so. Put all the projects on hold, save your money, and wait for the market to recover.

Boo! Y’all are so negative! Good for Infiniti. I say that because it’s one rather obvious statement from one guy. Whoopity doo.

Bleh. I guess I won’t be buying any Infiniti in 10 years then. Unless they can figure out how to do a manual transmission hybrid, which I doubt.

Yes, a manual hybrid and them I’m on board.

Honda did one on the first hybrid Civic so it’s possible, just not probable.

Infiniti sure is a leader! just because they don’t put out the sales numbers like toyota or someone else who has lots of cheap cars, doesn’t mean they are bad. Infiniti leads consumer report with the most reliable vehicles on the road, which even surpasses Lexus!

A manual on a hybrid isnt too hard, it’s been done before, but i think, if it does come out, it will be on a sport model…which is a good thing

Manual transmissions give a driver far too much control of a vehicle. They should all be banned. Your vehicle should control you, not the other way around. The need of the masses must outweigh the needs of the rebel minority.

I could see a manual G-series hybrid in a few years, at least the coupe. The M will most likely be auto-only (best case, flappy pedals) , EX and FX will also be auto-only. That said, good for Nissan/Infiniti.

Personally, I am way more interested in the commercial Danki Cube (2011 i think) than a G37 hybrid… but thats just me.

just no more crappy CVTs… please!

I figured someone would make this move.

Dr Fill:
Just stop.

I think Infiniti’s hybrids will be more sporty than the ones Honda/Toyota put out… well we will wait and see if this drivetrain any better than the others….
I know hybrid and sport doesn’t go together but…I will reserve my judgement until they do something around these lines.

So let me just ask JDASCH1 what kind of car do you drive? Last time i checked Infiniti finished secon in initial quality… So with the statement we are difunctional makes no sense at all… So before you makes statements do your research…..

Infiniti showed the press a Hybrid version of the current G sedan back in August 2008. Auto journalists drove them and came claiming they were actually quicker than the gas engined Infiniti G35 they were based on. These hybrids will incorporate traditional Otto cycle gasoline V-6s rather than less powerful Atkinson engines used in Toyota’s Synergy Drive.

They are set to be 4-mode parallel hybrids based upon driving demand. Dry and wet clutches incorporated into the automatic transmission will switch between modes. The transmission will also act as an mechanical electrical regenerator along with the heat based regeneration from the brakes .

Therefore the Infinti hybrid can run on pure electric power for short urban or suburban commutes – up to 3 miles at typical urban speeds. In higher speed acceleration gas and electric will run together, hence power should actually better that offered by current gas-engined powered models.

When slowing and stopping the gas engine will shut, and regenerative braking will keep charging the battery.

81% of American drivers operate in congested metropolitan areas. In most conditions they don’t operate their cars at anywhere near wide open throttle. No, the Infiniti hybrid’s high speed fuel economy won’t match that of the most frugal diesels. But in a combination of low speed urban and moderate suburban commuting they should better the fuel efficiency of the high-powered diesels.

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid is claimed to return close to 30 mpg in these driving conditions. Mercedes S400 Blue Hybrid, set be launched in the US market later this year offers 290 hp and 29 combined cycle fuel efficiency.

scratchy,
lamborghini saying they will never make a hybrid is like saying GM will never go bankrupt. They might just be forced to do something like that.

johnnycanuck,

spoken like a true communist. and if having a manual makes me an individualist then give me a getrag 6 speed inline 750 with triple cone synchros on the 1 to 2!

regards

Jack
Just stop being right?
I’ll need some help
Oh wait………I’m a Doctor…..
I’ll be alright
DrFill

Just stop making unwarranted statements about toyota’s faux-luxury division.
When it announces that it goes all-electric, THEN you can say it’s ahead of Nissan.

Two Tings!
1. There is nothing “faux” about Lexus, and you know this
2. Nissan buys Hybrid systems from Toyota to sell, so how is Nissan, or Infiniti, on par with THE World’s #1 Hybrid company
Nissan is just smart enough to sit at the feet of their Sin Sai
The sooner you admit it, the better
Don’t fight the truth
Good night!
DrFill