Infiniti is hopping onto the electric car bandwagon

Infiniti, Nissan’s answer to Lexus and Mercedes, is going electric. Nissan’s CEO Hiroto Saikawa has announced today that electrified powertrtains will invade the Infiniti ranks in 2021, along with the brand’s first purely electric battery-powered car.

It’s a change that Infiniti hopes will propel it into the premium badge big-time. Just four years after Infiniti reveals its first EV, the company says electrified cars will account for over half of its global sales. Its hybrids will be marketed under an ‘e-Power’ moniker. 

While this is a brave new world for Infiniti, its parent companies know a thing or two about EVs. Nissan’s been in the game longer than most with the Leaf, while its partner Renault offers the wacky Twizy and far more conventional Zoe supermini in its purely plug-in range. 

Here’s hoping that Infiniti’s new wave of electrified cars look at least something like the Q Inspiration Concept as seen at the 2018 Detroit motor show. EVs allow for rakish proportions, long wheelbases, and roomy cabins – all of which would help Infiniti finally step out of every other premium carmaker’s shadow.

Though, what that ultimately means for Infiniti's fancy new four-cylinder turbo petrol engine (dubbed VC-Turbo, said to pack a V6 punch in a smaller unit, freeing up the car's architecture), remains to be seen...