Luxury Hotel

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Infiniti While we had been told it was coming in 2014, the exact release date of the production version of the Infiniti LE concept might just might hinge on something you can't see and that the Japanese automaker can't control: wireless charging infrastructure. That's the word from Autocar, which talked to Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer, who admits that wireless charging "is this technology we want to shine a light on, so while there is no world standard on methods, the rollout will be dependent on region." In other words, if you want the latest luxury EV, you'd better hide those wires. They're so gauche. There's a good chance Infiniti will be the first OEM to sell a production inductive charging vehicle (companies like Mitsubishi and Audi are also working on the technology), which is likely to be a double-edged sword. Yes, it'll have bragging rights, but the wired infrastructure is proving difficult enough to put into place, and having the coolest tech doesn't mean much if you can't put it into use. Thankfully, the LE (or whatever it will be called) is also expected to come with conventional wired charging capabilities. Also, Infiniti is, at this point, trying to get induction charging technology to be open source, which could help a lot of players in the industry. The LE concept, based on the Nissan Leaf, has the same 24-kWh lithium-ion battery pack but a more powerful 100-kw electric motor good for 134 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque.Infiniti luxury electric sedan needs more wireless charging originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 22 May 2013 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: SUV, Land Rover, Design/Style, Luxury, Off-Road There seem to be plenty of reports swirling in regards to Land Rover lately. According to Autocar, not only is the British automaker going back to the drawing board for the design of its next-generation Defender, but the outlet is also saying that the Freelander name could be dropped. While the article doesn't say why, its source indicates that current plans for the next Defender have been scrapped, yet there is a still a replacement in the works. The existing Defender will end production in 2015, but this replacement vehicle will not be ready by then. We imagine that the styling of the replacement won't echo that of the DC100 Concept shown above, and that the news would affect the planned Defender-based Tata SUV as well as the proposed Land Rover factory in India. As for the Freelander, it sounds like the next generation of this SUV will be out by next year, but it will not be wearing the Freelander name. Instead, Land Rover will include it as a smaller version of the Discovery. Here in the States, these two vehicles are named LR2 (Freelander) and LR4 (Discovery).Next-gen Defender plans scrapped, Freelander name being dropped originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments