The Future of the Nissan Z: Evolving to Stay in the Game
Even the Z car will get electrified in the future, but it won’t go EV for a while.
Speculation and rumors continue to swirl around the Nissan Z sports car even today when the new model has been on-sale over a year. How committed is Nissan to the car, considering the tight budget it gave the new model and the low volume it sells in? Very, Nissan execs say, so much so it’s not only sticking around but will likely become a hybrid in the future.
No EV Z Anytime Soon
During a question and answer period at the company’s recent Fast Forward event, chief planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira told reporters the Z car is here to stay. Sports cars will remain, he said, even though they rarely pencil (turn a enough profit to justify building them). It will have to adapt to tightening emissions and fuel economy regulations, though. The best way to do that, he suggested, is by going hybrid, not EV.
“The Z needs a relevant powertrain when it gets electrified,” Pandikuthira said. It needs to remain lightweight and nimble, and EV powertrains aren’t there yet. Batteries are heavy, and while the company’s planned solid-state batteries should reduce weight, he thinks a full EV sports car is a long way off at Nissan.
While he wouldn’t confirm directly the Z would eventually become a hybrid or when that might happen, Pandikuthira suggested it was “probably” the best solution to retain the car’s character. Given the latest model is only a year old, we expect it’ll be several years before Nissan considers updating it again, especially considering the engineering that will be required to fit a hybrid system Nissan doesn’t currently have.
If history is any guide, the Z will likely be among the last Nissans to get hybridized. Variants of its VR engine power the Infiniti Q50 and Nissan Armada in a rear-drive configuration, both of which will also need to go hybrid or EV in the future. The Armada, in particular, could see a big fuel economy benefit by going hybrid and would pay for the development of such a system which could eventually be adapted to the Z.
The GT-R Is Apparently a Different Story
This suggestion stands in contrast to what we’ve heard about the future of the GT-R. Nissan has been dropping hints its flagship sportscar will go all-electric in the future, which makes some sense as it’s the company’s standard-bearer for cutting-edge performance technology. It’s possible a hybrid GT-R will precede a full EV, but Nissan has indicated it isn’t developing any all-new combustion engines and the VR twin-turbo V-6 has been around for 17 years. Hybridizing it wouldn’t be much of a technological show of force.
Source Credit: https://www.motortrend.com/
Posted by : Scott Evans Writer Manufacturer Photographer Oct 18, 2024
Updated On: Oct 22, 2024
