{"id":128830,"date":"2018-08-16T13:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=128830"},"modified":"2018-08-16T13:10:42","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T17:10:42","slug":"infiniti-electrifies-the-classic-speedster-with-pebble-beach-concept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2018\/08\/infiniti-electrifies-the-classic-speedster-with-pebble-beach-concept\/","title":{"rendered":"Infiniti Electrifies the \u201cClassic Speedster” with Pebble Beach Concept"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Infiniti Prototype 10 is meant to give the classic roadster a battery-powered kick.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Infiniti is doing a slow fan dance as it begins to reveal the \u201cdaring electrified speedster\u201d it will formally unveil at the Pebble Beach Concours d\u2019Elegance later this month.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest in a series of extreme concepts and more conventional production models that the Japanese luxury brand has brought to the annual Pebble Beach event and the new Prototype 10 is meant to highlight Infiniti\u2019s planned shift to electrifying future products.<\/p>\n

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Electrifying!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is appropriate that we found inspiration in an optimistic bygone era in which cars were characterized by the simple love of driving,\u201d says Karim Habib, Infiniti\u2019s Executive Design Director. But while Prototype 10 may be meant to celebrate what Habib calls \u201csome of the most evocative car designs of all time, where power was celebrated through high – powered single – seat competition cars,\u201d it is anything but a retro-mobile.<\/p>\n

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Infiniti first offered this tease of the Prototype 10 earlier in the month.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur new concept speaks of an electrified future, something which is reflected in its form and details,\u201d the executive explains.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have to wait for specific details to dribble out between now and August 23rd<\/sup>, when the Infiniti Prototype 10 makes its formal debut. It\u2019s expected to use a pure battery-electric drivetrain, though the luxury side of Nissan Motor Co. has also indicated that it is working on plug-in hybrid technology, as well.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear is that Infiniti has shifted gears from years past when it was looking at battery drive technology as a way to emphasize fuel economy alone. \u201cFor us, electrification means performance,\u201d Habib said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Of course, Infiniti is by no means alone in that approach. Jaguar\u2019s new I-Pace all-electric SUV can hit 60 in barely 4.5 seconds and the new Porsche Taycan is expected to be even quicker. At a Milan event in June, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles revealed that the new Alfa Romeo 8C flagship will feature a plug-in drivetrain making over 700 horsepower. Tim Kuniskis, the head of both the Alfa and Maserati brands, told TheDetroitBureau.com last month that not only will all future models off electric drive options but that they will be positioned as the pinnacle of performance, a step above twin-turbo V-8 models.<\/p>\n

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The Infiniti Prototype 9 made its debut at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Infiniti actually was positioned to become the first luxury brand with an all-electric model, but it scrapped that plan \u2013 which would have been an upscale version of the more plebian Nissan Leaf \u2013 and temporarily put its electrification efforts on hold.<\/p>\n

Then, Nissan Motor Co. CEO Hiroto Saikawa laid out the new direction during a speech at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January. \u201cInfiniti will have a specific focus on electrification,\u201d Saikawa explained,, adding that, \u201cWe are trying to position Infiniti as the premier electrified brand\u201d as part of the five-year Nissan business plan that will extend through 2022.<\/p>\n

Along with pure battery-electric vehicles, Infiniti will add what Saikawa called e-Power models. These also are referred to as extended-range electric vehicles, and include such current offerings as the Chevrolet Volt and BMW i3 REx. While similar to plug-in hybrids, they use onboard gasoline engines solely as generators to power their electric motors.<\/p>\n

The shift to electrification came as something of a surprise, however, as the brand had just announced plans to launch a breakthrough gasoline engine, the VC-T, capable of automatically modifying its compression ratio to balance performance and fuel economy. The VC-T may yet find application in future Infiniti hybrid models, however, company insiders hint.<\/p>\n

The debut of the Prototype 10 comes a year after Infiniti brought the Prototype 9 to Pebble Beach. That show car reimagined a classic race car design using an all-electric powertrain.<\/p>\n

Expect to see a number of automakers use the Pebble Beach Concours as backdrop to debut new concepts and production models, many of them electrified. That includes Audi which will reveal the battery-powered PB 18 e-tron, a nod to the R 18 race car that has helped it become a dominant force on the endurance car circuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Infiniti is doing a slow fan dance as it begins to reveal the \u201cdaring electrified speedster\u201d it will formally unveil at the Pebble Beach Concours d\u2019Elegance later this month. The Prototype 10 will show the world the company’s design direction for its future EVs. Get a look at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,12,9],"tags":[],"make":[65,95],"post-state":[],"category_old":[150,151,160,319,155,234,163,320,139,291,278],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128830"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=128830"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=128830"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=128830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}