Like every carmaker before it including GM, Toyota, Ford, and several smaller operatives, Nissan is announcing it’s interest in building an electric car with a new concept called the Mixim.
The car will be shown at the Frankfurt Auto show and it noted to have two electric “Supermotors”, one for each axle, to produce the equilvalent of all-wheel drive.
The car is styled for the video-gamer, shaped like a crash-helmet, and uses lithium-ion batteries.
Nissan is not guaranteeing production.
Here is Edmunds take on it.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 8:53 am and is filed under Competitors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Aug 30th, 2007 (9:11 am)Best of luck to Nissan and Honda, but if all they are planning to do is try to come up with a “Prius killer”, then all they’re doing is pissing in the wind. I know that I’m too old to engage in such speculation, but once the Volt comes out, I really think it will be a game changer. This is a revolutionary product, much like the iPod. I know this analogy is a stretch but, the iPod did not make use of unbelieveable futuristic technology. What it did was combine existing technology with incremental improvements in a new and interesting way, that was accessible to anyone. The Volt is similar, but it has the potential to impact people in a much more profound way than a music player. The Volt is to a Prius what an iPod is to a Rio mp3 player.
Anyway, my point is that I don’t think Nissan or Honda will get anywhere trying to introduce the latest, greatest 1990s style hybrid…
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Aug 30th, 2007 (9:24 am)Looks like the rice burners got their tires flattened by a VOLT of lightning and they have no car jack. Go get VOLT, lets help keep those good old U.S. green backs here in America. God Bless America !!
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Aug 30th, 2007 (9:28 am)Ugly, boy, Ugly!!!
Fortunately for the world, Nissan probably doesn’t have the funds to bring this monstrosity to market. It reminds me of those futuristic concept locomotives during the 1930’s. But then, it also resembles those fururisitc electric irons
also. Maybe the stylist used to work for GE’s Small Appliance division.
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Aug 30th, 2007 (9:58 am)Hello,
Comparing this car to to the Volt is like comparing apples to mangos. My point is that this is an EV, run on electricity entirely, right?
The market for this car would be entirely different than the one for the Volt, as this could only be used as a commuter car. It is too small to be a family-mover and the range would limit it to in-state trips; short ones at that.
I hope Nissan produced a winner, as more competition in the EV market would ultimately result in an affordable car.
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Aug 30th, 2007 (10:02 am)I don’t get it. What’s the deal with this car? I doubt that the seating design would be used anywhere, ever. It also sounds like Nissan has come out with this concept to compete with Volt concept, largely ignoring that the Volt is intended to be more than a concept. There is definitely a future for EV’s due to the recent advances in technology and changing economics of driving, but it seems like Nissan is just trying to have fun with it, forgetting that they have an obligation to shareholders to develop something marketable. And on top of all of that, it doesn’t even look like a car. It’s like the hideous clothes that sometimes come out on supermodels at fashion shows that even make the supermodels look ugly. You don’t know what’s even supposed to be, and it’s just plain wierd. I guess this concept is supposed to continue evolving into something drivable. Who knows.
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Aug 30th, 2007 (10:37 am)I like it – looks better than a Corbin Sparow or commutacar of the 80’s or even the tango in my opinion. For a straight EV commuter this is one of the better concepts i have seen.
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Aug 30th, 2007 (12:28 pm)I think it looks kinda cool. However, I think doing too many things out of what is acceptable in the design of a car may not be well received. In this concept, it might be the 1+2 seating, or the controls.
Like in the Volt, I don’t see the steering wheel and instrument cluster as something that would be commonly accepted. I’d prefer a more traditional leather wrapped steering wheel with a more conventional type instrument cluster layout.
WRT a Nissan EV, or a more advanced Honda hybrid, and PHEV Prius’, and the Volt. Competition is GOOD. It helps keep prices down. Also more use of battery technology will increase manufacturing base, which can drive prices down.
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Aug 30th, 2007 (3:04 pm)This should shut up all the people who said the Volt was ugly.
I agree with Nick D that it’s an attractive design for the pure electric car world, but that’s really not saying much at all.
I think it’s just a marketting stunt to polish Nissan’s image as a “green” automaker, with zero chance of production.
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Aug 31st, 2007 (6:27 am)A pure Electric Vehicle (EV) is not that interesting. The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is the future.
However, it’s interesting to see a prototype car with electric all-wheel drive (AWD). In the future, I would expect to see a small SUV or CUV PHEV with AWD (need more acronyms here).
Does anyone know how this works? Are the 2 electric motors connected directly to the axles, or are there 2 small drive-shafts with gears for each axle? Is each electric motor 1/2 the total horse-power? How much would it cost to add AWD to a PHEV?
Also, how would this affect the interior design? Where would the rear motor go?
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