Infiniti

As the luxury brand of the most aggressive electric major automotive producer (Nissan-Renault), Infiniti has been hinting for some time that it would go beyond its hybrid offerings and develop an all-electric sedan and more specifically, an all-electric sports car. With its successful ties with Formula One Champions Red Bull Racing, and F1 Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel as its Global Brand Ambassador, it was really only a matter of time. Today, we had the first glimpse of the new sports EV. Read More

It's a well known fact that simply driving a new car away from the dealership is one of the most horrifically expensive things you'll ever do. ALG measures automotive residual values in the American marketplace - that is, the value of a car when you sell it, three years after purchase. Depreciation of the value of a car is often the largest part of the cost of ownership, and hence a good performance in ALG's Annual Residual Value Awards is a strong indication of how much that brand will cost to drive, and for the average man in the street, the current retained-value king is Subaru. Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru brand has now won the award three years running, with Lexus regaining top spot amongst luxury brands. The report suggests that German and American manufacturers are a long way behind Japanese (11 of the 21 awards) manufacturers in this critical but often overlooked aspect of real car ownership costs. Read More

The FIA, governing body of internal-combustion-engined motorsport, appears to have finally recognized the bleeding obvious (that electric vehicles will become mainstream) and is planning a high profile electric racing championship series beginning in 2013. The FIA Formula E Championship series has not been publicly framed as yet so it is not known if the series will be run at the same venues as the Formula One series but it can be expected to be held at a range of international venues and will logically serve as the first official championship for electric vehicles. Whether the series will have world championship status ... Read More

Sebastian Vettel won his second World F1 drivers championship today, and although only taking third place in the Japanese Grand Prix, he is still on track for the most dominant season in F1 history. His third place at Suzuka gave him 324 of the 375 points on offer – a stunning 86.4% of available points and still ahead of Michael Schumacher's best during his reign with Ferrari. Like most other records in F1, Vettel is once again the youngest to achieve the feat. For Red Bull Racing, it's the team's second drivers title and it is closing in on the constructors title with a lead of 130 points and just four races to go. Perhaps more ominously, the team it has assembled, and the relationship with both Infiniti and engine-suppliers Renault looks more than capable of sustaining the success. Read More

Records may come and go but, aside from grabbing headlines, they're a way of benchmarking the progress of new technologies. In the automotive world this means hybrid drivetrains and we've seen a number of new record attempts in recent times - usually related to fuel economy as with the Kia Optima Drive. The latest comes from Nissan, whose Infiniti luxury division is claiming the world's fastest accelerating full hybrid vehicle in the form of the Infiniti M Hybrid. The M Hybrid has covered the standing quarter mile (400 m) in an average time of 13.9031 seconds - putting it on par with a Lamborghini Countach .... a 1982 Lamborghini Countach that is. Read More

Those looking forward to quieter city streets as a result of near-silent electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids replacing internal combustion engine vehicles on our roads may have to think again. To ensure that cyclists and pedestrians, including the visually impaired, are aware of stealthy oncoming vehicles, researchers have been looking at different noises that can be applied to EVs. Toyota has also already announced plans to sell an onboard audio alert system for its Prius but it looks like such systems are set to become more widespread with the Infiniti M35h to be the world’s first hybrid to get an audible pedestrian warning system as standard. Read More

To celebrate 20 years as a brand Infiniti has produced a stunning concept car for the 2009 International Motor Show in Geneva. The Infiniti Essence is the world’s most powerful Hybrid car with a total of 600 horsepower combined output from its V6 twin turbo and electric motor. The luxury sports car hybrid offers enormous power on the open road and zero emission driving in urban settings. Read More