Loads Of Room on 2040-cars

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Sebastien Vettel testing Infiniti's production Etherea?

It sounds like Sebastian Vettel has had his hands full recently, juggling his Formula One racing career while moonlighting as the newly appointed director of performance at Infiniti. On that latter note, Autocar is reporting that Vettel has been testing a production version of the Etherea Concept at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
There is still no word as to when we could see this car go into production or what it will be called (possibly the Q30), but it will likely share a platform with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class as a part of the Daimler/Renault-Nissan collaboration. The article also said that this future entry-level Infiniti would be produced at Nissan's Sunderland, UK plant.

Renault's push for more affordable EVs has global implications

The Renault K-ZE is a small electric car that signals a big change in how the French automaker plans on bringing electric vehicles to the masses. Set to go on sale in China beginning in 2019, the K-ZE is meant to have the design of a sport-utility vehicle, but it's on a supermini-sized frame. While it's set to arrive in Europe by 2021, this petite EV could eventually impact electric sales here in the U.S., too. That's because Nissan, maker of the Leaf EV, is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, a three-pronged automaker with a huge global presence. In China, however, the Renault brand has been absent from the country's booming market for electric vehicles — driven in large part by government mandates to combat air pollution by promoting cleaner, zero-emission cars and trucks in cities. Speaking ahead of the K-ZE's debut this week at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and CEO of Group Renault, stated the company "was a pioneer and is the European leader in electric vehicles." To this, he added the K-ZE is meant to have global reach and bring costs down for the consumer. "We are introducing Renault K-ZE, an affordable, urban, SUV-inspired electric model combining the best of Groupe Renault: our leadership in EV, our expertise in affordable vehicles and in forging strong partnerships," said Ghosn. In China, the K-ZE will be manufactured as part of a joint partnership in cooperation with Renault, Nissan and the Chinese automobile firm Dongfeng Motor Group. The range of the K-ZE is expected to be about 150 miles per charge, or roughly the current range in the 2018 Leaf EV. Except the K-ZE is almost three feet shorter than the Leaf, which means Renault is getting a lot more range from a smaller and lighter amount of batteries. While a car this size would be too small for the U.S. market, the technology beneath this teeny hatchback/SUV is certain to make an appearance here in the years ahead. At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Nissan provided a hint of its future European EV plans, courtesy of the IMx Kuro Concept. This edgy-looking electric crossover is a good indication as to the design direction of Nissan's next range of electric crossovers and SUVs over the next 3-5 years — look for the design and tech to similarly migrate stateside.

Infiniti puts EV plans on hold again

Think of it as the green-automotive industry's version of Groundhog Day. Nissan's Infiniti division is putting plans for its first mass-production electric vehicle on hold. Again. The Infiniti LE, whose concept version was unveiled 2012's New York Auto Show, is again being put up on the proverbial blocks, USA Today says, citing a presentation by Infiniti executive Michael Bartsch at a recent company event in Detroit. Essentially, the Nissan division has bigger fish to fry, in the form of boosting overall Infiniti sales, and doesn't yet want to put the effort into introducing the Infiniti LE. The Infiniti EV plans were first postponed by then-Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen during the summer of 2013, as de Nysschen wasn't quite buying into Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn's ambitious electric vehicle sales projections. De Nysschen resigned last summer to join General Motors' Cadillac division. One issue may be the fact that the Infiniti wouldn't be all that different from the Nissan Leaf. Despite the fact that US sales of that EV surged 34 percent last year compared to 2013, to 30,200 vehicles, an Infiniti version was apparently not enough of a selling point within the company. While the Infiniti is sportier looking than the Leaf and would boast inductive, wireless charging, it would have a similar power output and single-charge range as the Leaf.