Tokyo Motor Show 2017: Nissan’s electric future

MANILA, Philippines — “This is what the future of Nissan Intelligent Mobility will look and sound like...” exclaimed Daniele Schillaci, Nissan’s EVP for Global Marketing and Sales, as he opened the presentation of the Nissan booth before the numerous international press, at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show two weeks ago. Beside him were the Nissan Leaf NISMO and IMx Zero Emission Concepts, both vehicles making their World Premiere as Nissan’s bets into the cars of the future.

The Leaf is not new to anyone; it has since been the icon of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility, and with its latest-gen production model already being sold in Japan, it has so far proven extremely successful, with astoundingly strong customer reception (surpassing more than half of last year’s sales in one month alone).

Thus it was probably only natural to come up with the Leaf NISMO concept—Nissan’s idea of how the quintessential EV can be transformed into a true driving machine.

Strongly moving in that direction, Nissan has also just announced its desire to dip its feet into ‘electric racing’—with Schillaci calling this a ‘revolution for motorsports.’ “After all,” he remarked, “we are clean; we are economical!”

“Next year,” he promises, “Nissan joins Season 5 of the Formula E Championship.” “Because at Nissan,” he adds, “we never stop; we keep moving forward.”

As if that were not enough of a good thing, Nissan also introduced its futuristic-looking IMx Zero Emission crossover EV.

The IMx is a fully autonomous, all-electric, all-wheel-drive vehicle with a driving range of more than 600km. At its core is a future version of Propilot—Nissan’s proprietary autonomous driving technology—giving its riders the option of a fully autonomous drive. When ProPilot comes into play, the vehicle’s steering wheel and pedals are retracted, and the seats automatically recline. The driver then has the option to relax while enjoying more cabin space, as the vehicle drives itself to the set destination, and even parks itself upon arrival.

The IMx is powered by a pair of high-output electric motors at the front and at the rear. Together, they produce 320kW of power and an amazing 700Nm of torque. Energy is sourced from a re-engineered battery with increased energy density; and the new EV platform also allows for a completely flat floor. Thus, with a low center of gravity, occupants can experience enhanced driving dynamics with this new-age crossover.

Moreover, the IMx also has vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-building features, which mean that the vehicle can also act as a virtual power plant by simply connecting itself to a local power grid. Hence, the vehicle may not only store energy via charging, but it can also return electricity back to the grid (useful in countries where electricity is charged based on peak and off-peak hours).

“Nissan has also been expanding e-power to all markets and models,” said Schillaci as he referred to Nissan’s Serena e-power, another product at the Nissan display. E-power is a technology that possesses the excitement and efficiency of an EV, with the reliability of a fuel-fed car.

The TMS also served as the venue for the Japan premiere of the versatile Serena NISMO and the Skyline.