- Infiniti has been slow to bring an electric car to market.
- The fastback Vision Qe sedan is a concept for Infiniti’s first EV.
- Infiniti designers say the concept should inspire thoughts of extraordinary, sophisticated, and dynamism.
In an interesting marketing choice, Infiniti, which has so far stayed out of the EV market, plans to make its first electric vehicle a smooth sedan, rather than the more expected mid-size SUV that most of its competitors have chosen. Time will tell if that’s the right decision, but in the meantime, Infiniti showcased the concept for the electron-eating four-door ahead of the 2023 Tokyo auto show.
The Vision Qe concept is a large fastback sedan with the smooth profile of a river rock. It’s so sleek it appears almost half-carved. Senior vice president for global design, Alfonso Albaisa, says that the Vision Qe is inspired by the Japanese expression, “Sho,” which invokes the powerful, but graceful, flight of an elegant bird. Certainly the design suggests movement, with swept-back body lines and a tapering rear.
The concept is finished in a dark metallic blue, flecked with gold and gold accents pepper the design from wheels to lit-up trim. Light plays a major part in the Vision Qe, with glowing details all across its barely upturned spoiler in the rear and tracing the shape of its widespread snowplow of a front fascia. Infiniti says the massive wheels with their interlaced wire pattern represent the wound coils of an electric motor, and they too are finished in a light gold.
The concept is striking, but seems unlikely to make it to production unchanged, which might mean that Infiniti’s first EV is just a plain ‘ol four-door at a time when customers are shying away from sedans. The production version of this concept is likely to be built at Nissan’s factory in Canton, Mississippi, alongside a Nissan version that we’ve speculated could adopt the name Maxima. The two companies previously said that they would start production of two new EV models at this facility in 2025, meaning they could arrive for the 2026 model year. We don’t know what the Infiniti will be called, but it may bring back a name from a past sedan such as Q70.
Senior Editor, Features
Like a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
