Electric is the way forward for automobiles and many brands have already started making strides in that direction with select few of them getting promising results. Infinity has also announced their intention to start going electric with their vehicles, with a new lineup already underworks.
Over the three decades, since INFINITI was first established, the design of the brand’s vehicles has transformed. Cars have evolved as tastes and expectations have changed, and as new trends have emerged, such as the rise in popularity of SUVs and crossovers. Innovations in assembly techniques, vehicle architecture, and aerodynamics have also played a role in progressing the look of INFINITI vehicles.
Powertrain electrification, however, marks a significant moment in car design, with designers no longer shackled by the mechanical layout of a traditional powertrain.
Designers now have a lot more creative liberty since they no longer have to design the car body around an internal combustion engine, prop shaft, fuel tank or transmission.
As it creates its next generation of vehicles, INFINITI is seizing this opportunity, echoing the character of powerful and serene new electric and electrified powertrains in the very design of its cars. While the aesthetics of the brand’s cars have always been defined by the engines under the hood, future designs will hint directly at the potency and character of INFINITI’s electrified powertrains.
As vehicle proportions evolve, so too will the design details. Signaling the nature of new electric or electrified powertrains, INFINITI is adopting a new ‘Powerful Serenity’ form language for the era of electrification.
This form of language will be infused with Japanese DNA, drawing upon the culture and modern architecture of INFINITI’s home country.
The brand’s designers took inspiration from the Japanese spatial concept of ‘Ma’, described as an emptiness full of possibilities, potential, and anticipation. Applied to INFINITI’s upcoming electric vehicles, designs will emphasize the smooth, muscular spaces between the sharp, sheer lines of the bodywork, building visual anticipation for the electrified performance within. What happens between these lines is truly expressive; empty spaces that carry the loudest message.
Utilizing the ‘Ma’ philosophy will ensure all future INFINITI cars feature svelte, graceful and uncluttered designs. Further Japanese influences will include body surfaces and creases inspired by origami, the Japanese art of folding paper, and technical ‘kimono fold’ patterns, inspired by the straight lines that typify modern Japanese architecture.
This form of language serves a practical purpose, too. With no cool air required to cool an engine, future INFINITI models will do away with traditional air intakes at the front of the car.
Opening the doors on INFINITI’s most recent concept cars reveals the packaging benefits brought by electrified powertrains. With less space required for engines and the flat packaging of a battery pack beneath the floor, INFINITI will be able to create larger, more spacious cabins – lounge-like interiors which provide more passenger space and comfort.
The brand’s latest concept vehicles – Q Inspiration, Qs Inspiration and QX Inspiration – each represent INFINITI’s desire to continually challenge tradition and discover ‘the new’. This is familiar territory for a company that launched the FX in 2002, the world’s first sports crossover – and a car which evolved beyond the established ‘two-box’ SUV design trends of the late 1990s.
INFINITI has spent 30 years looking forward with its designs, and powertrain electrification opens new doors for the brand as it transforms how its cars will look in future.
