Despite a slew of pure electric cars on the horizon from a variety of mainstream manufacturers, analysts are projecting sales will not increase as much as many had hoped. A big reason is the very-present issue of range anxiety that many consumers have.
For most, electric vehicles are completely ruled out as a first car from the get go, and for many even a second car. Exceptions to that are city dwellers for whom compact, short range EVs could be perfect. Also, cars with higher ranges, like the Tesla Model S, might fare better.
The answer to that issue is a range-extended electric vehicle, like the Chevrolet Volt. It is currently the only range-extended EV on the market. Infiniti is previewing a new RE-EV sports car that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. It is dubbed the Emerg-E.
This is a different model than the pure electric sedan being developed based on the Nissan LEAF. It isn’t clear when that car will debut; we haven’t heard about it in a while. Last time it was seeing continued development, as Infiniti executives wanted to make sure it was a true luxury product and not a rebadged LEAF.
Clear direction on whether the Emerg-E is a concept or not hasn’t been given, but a key indicator in their press release says it will be the “first car from the brand to have a range-extender drivetrain.” That may mean there is a future range-topping performance coupe in the works for Infiniti. They’ll probably shed a bit more light on that next month at the debut.
In their release, they say the engine is mounted in a “mid-ship package for optimal handling.” Sounds promising. The brand introduced the Essence Concept a few years back; people loved it but it hasn’t been green lighted for production. Hopefully the Emerg-E will escape a similar fate.
