Author: Ralph Morton

THERE’S a split personality about this striking new two-seater Infiniti mid-engined sports car.

It has all the performance you would expect of its exotic specification – it can accelerate to 60mph in just four seconds and hit 130mph.

And then all the performance you wouldn’t expect from a mdi-engned sports car: it can travel up to 30 miles with zero emissions.

And when it does need to engage its engine along with the twin lithium ion batteries, it produces just 55g/km CO2, good enough for the lowest tax band of 5% on our company car tax calculator.

Surely, something’s not right here…

Well, it’s a concept from the luxury sporting brand Infiniti – the EMERG-E – to understand the future direction of the company and sporting performance. And it’s been engineered and built in the UK.

Even the drivetrain is British – the 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine is from Lotus engineering while the single speed transmission was developed by Berkshire-based Xtrac.

No wonder that Infiniti has become part of the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board initiative, whose stated aim is to speed the arrival of low carbon vehicles to our roads.

“Infiniti’s tag-line is ‘Inspired Performance’ and the Emerg-E could be a real symbol for the brand. We decided on the name because the concept embraces emerging technology and it merges two power sources, the traditional internal combustion engine and an electric motor,” commented Infiniti’s advanced product planning chief Francois Bancon.

Within its compact 4.464m length the two-seater Infiniti EMERG-E contains a pair of electric motors, a lithium-ion battery pack, four inverters, a three-cylinder range-extending internal combustion engine and a petrol tank. And it’s all wrapped up in sinuous and highly aerodynamic bodywork.

The EMERG-E looks to be more than just a concept. Two running prototypes are being built – in the UK, of course – ready for testing to really gauge reaction before deciding on whether to launch the vehicle.

The EMERG-E is clearly an important halo model for Infiniti as the luxury sorting brand starts to establish itself in the market. And a clear indication of the direction the company will be taking its luxury performance technology – towards range-extender series hybrid technology.

Here’s Francois Bancon again: “Infiniti has a deep knowledge of what an internal combustion engine is because this is what we are providing, and we also have a deep knowledge of what hybrid is which we are also providing in the market right now.

“This is about changing the rules of the game. You have more and more cities in Europe that are banning internal combustion engine emissions, but with this car you can run in London, for example, with no guilt – you are not guilty, because you are zero emission. At the same time, you’re going to have fun on a racetrack with the maximum performance you can enjoy.

“This is a new way of thinking about the sports car of the future,” added Francois.

What’s the Infiniti EMERG-E all about?

Watch our business car video to find out more.

Here’s Infiniti’s Andy Palmer on Infiniti’s future direction

And here’s Francois Bancon on alternative drive technologies