Infiniti LE

[Doug_G]

Because the ICE giants need to maintain product segmentation. They want people to think: EV=commuter, ICE=all-purpose. Otherwise, their franchise is at risk.

Or maybe they're simply trying to undermine the transition to EVs by ensuring Range Anxiety for all.

[GSP]

Very disappointing to see Nissan spending effort to offer wireless charging, to fix the non-problem of plugging the car in.

They should have been working on the real problems of range, acceleration, top speed, and charging speed. With a higher priced car, they could have addressed all of these, but instead they addressed NONE of them.

GSP

[EVNow]

We're talking about a luxury car here, not the Leaf. The expectations would (rightfully) be higher.

But cost can't be $70k. Market @ 70k is much smaller than at $40k. 85kWh Model S is simply too small a niche if one is interested in widespread adoption of EVs. It is just a rich man's differentiator.

And weight/volume isn't an issue if you pick the right chemistry (Tesla is showing what is possible at the leading edge).

Not really. Tesla chemistry doesn't lend itself to QC easily. As I've shown in practical examples earlier, a 100 mile range EV + CHAdeMO is more convinient than a 40 kwh Model S for inter-city travel.

Heck even Coda was able to put a 31kWh pack (with a coming 36kWh option) into a sedan , which was basically a conversion of an existing Chinese sedan (and they were able to offer a reasonable price). I don't see why Nissan/Infiniti can't do even better esp. from heavily modified chassis, a floor battery, and even more money spent on battery research.

Coda isn't exactly cheap - nor efficient. We don't know how good their battery is - doesn't have QC.

Again, hopefully things change for the better by production time.

True. Infact, I'm quite sure it will change - as will the 2014 Leaf as was already hinted by some Nissan exec.

[qwk]

I'm not surprised at all. There are a few die hard nissan fans that repeatedly posted that the Infinity EV was going to blow the base S out of the water. Well, it didn't even come close. We don't know the price, but I'm willing to bet that it will be at least $10k more than the leaf. What a shame.

This just reinforces my prediction that it will take decades for any major automaker to even come close to the model S specs for anywhere near the same money.

[vfx]

... We don't know the price, but I'm willing to bet that it will be at least $10k more than the leaf.
....

Though the price of the leaf was a pleasant surprise. They might do that again.

[dpeilow]

Very disappointing to see Nissan spending effort to offer wireless charging, to fix the non-problem of plugging the car in.

I read somewhere that this wireless charger is 50kW. That would be extremely useful in the taxi rank.

[vfx]

I read somewhere that this wireless charger is 50kW. That would be extremely useful in the taxi rank.

Yeah, wireless charging is one more barrier to owning an EV gone. A lot of people love the idea of just driving in a garage and that's it. Blows away pump filling.

It's such a great concept I don't even tell anyone it's coming in fear they will delay an EV purchase for it.
Not wasted time in my estimation.

[dsm363]

I think this is smart from a marketing standpoint too for Infiniti. When it does decrease charging efficiency, it looks like they've developed it to the point that the hit is only a few percent. It also could be an expensive/high profit option on top of the base car for the automaker. Perfect for taxi waiting lines too outside hotels for example as mentioned above.

[jkirkebo]

I read somewhere that this wireless charger is 50kW.

I seriously doubt that. Inductive charging is AC, so it'll have to pass through the cars own charger (unlike CHAdeMO). Even if they fitted the Chameleon charger from Renault it would top out at 43kW and probably only 7.7kW as I don't think the Chameleon charger can do more than 32A on single phase (which inductive charging is).

More probably it has the 6.6kW charger that should appear in the 2013 Leaf.

[dpeilow]

I seriously doubt that.

It was via the normally reliable John Voelcker.

Infiniti LE Concept: Electric Sedan Full Details, NY Auto Show

The LE sedan may also pioneer wireless inductive charging, using a 50-kilowatt DC charging pad on the garage floor encasing a coil connected to the power source.

But yeah, you have a point about DC.