The electrifying future of Nissan

Designed to appeal to a generation of young people who Nissan says have “fallen out of love with the car,” the Mixim takes the very latest electric vehicle technology and clothes it in a dramatic, slightly sinister, body.

“If the motor industry is going to survive beyond the next few years, we are going to have to work hard to attract future generations of drivers – people who currently find it difficult to love the car,” says Nissan’s global head of design, Shiro Nakamura.

Mixim’s truncated coupe body features a wrap-around windscreen inspired by crash helmet visor and diamond shaped styling cues – such as on the twin air intakes to the rear of the doors and the LED driving lights.

Inside is a clover-leaf three-plus-one seating arrangement with a central driving position, the driver sitting behind a “command and control” steering wheel inspired by computer race game controllers.

But Mixim is more than a flight of designer fancy.

Nissan has announced that it will start selling an all-electric passenger car in Japan and United States from 2010 and Mixim previews some of the technology that car will feature.

“Mixim can be seen as more than a show car – it’s a serious statement of intent,” says the company’s head of Exploratory and Advance Planning Department, Francois Bancon.

The Mixim’s front and rear axles are each powered by an electric motor making the car all-wheel drive.

Nissan’s highly efficient Super Motor differs from conventional electric motors by combining both power source and generator in one compact package.

In the Mixim the motor is combined with a new kind if lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery – similar than those used in the latest laptop computers and mobile phones.

Rather than bulky cylindrical cells, Nissan’s Li-Ion battery uses thin laminated cells and fewer components overall – halving size, boosting power by 50% and improving cooling.

Mixim was designed by a team with an average age of just 25.

“Mixim should tick all the right boxes as far as the younger generation is concerned. It is powered by an advanced, powerful, yet environmentally friendly electric motor and is compact enough to fit into their urban world.”