Infiniti has revealed the development of an electric vehicle platform that it says will underpin all of the brand's new models starting in 2021.
Among those electrified models will be one inspired by the Q Inspiration concept car shown at January's Detroit auto show.
But there will be a slew of others, eventually, as Infiniti says the platform was designed to adapt to a wide variety of vehicle sizes and types (except the full-size QX80 full-size SUV), as well as full electric models and range-extended "hybrid" models. By 2025, Infiniti expects that half of its global sales will comprise electrified vehicles.
This announcement makes Infiniti the latest in a line of major luxury automakers that have pledged to go heavily electric after the turn of the decade. Volvo was the first with its 2017 revelation that every new model it launches starting next year will be electrified, either with hybrid or plug-in technology.
In speaking to Automotive News, an Infiniti exec said there will also be hybrid models that will combine the brand's new variable compression four-cylinder engine (recently launched in the QX50 crossover) with electric motors.
What the company has not said is what the split will be between full electric models and hybrid/range-extended vehicles. We suspect that, at least initially, more than half will have a gasoline engine in some capacity to act as a bridge until charging infrastructure and battery technology evolves to assuage buyers' EV range anxiety concerns.
What it has revealed is the new electrified powertrains will max out around 400 hp with higher-performance models adding a second electric motor and all-wheel drive, and full electric variants will be good for close to 500 km of driving range.
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