Nissan has unveiled their new IMs electric sedan concept, revealing Nissan’s vision of future mobility.
We’ve seen some impressive concepts in our time here at Hot Cars, but Nissan’s latest electric sedan might just be the most impressive yet. A fully-electric sedan with autonomous driving and nearly 400 miles of range is something that seems as out of this world as the car’s unique styling.
Let’s start under the hood. The IMs has two electric motors with one powering each axle. Combined horsepower is 483 ponies with 590 lb-ft of torque. Those are solid numbers on any car and will allow the IMs to compete with current offerings from Tesla and Porsche.
A 115 kWh battery provides an estimated range of 380 miles, which seems doable given the fact that pre-production electric vehicles are reporting 400-mile ranges from other brands. An adaptive air suspension setup means the IMs is literally floating on air, ensuring a smooth and responsive ride, while 22-inch wheels pound out whatever bumps the IMs drives over.
Externally, the IMs ditches the grille in favor of a set of LED headlights that try to evoke the current Nissan V-shape grille without actually having one. Both the head and tail lights stretch all the way across the vehicle and will even glow blue when the car is driving in autonomous mode.
Nissan didn’t get into details as to just how autonomous their autonomous mode would be, but the way their press release is written makes it sound like this car doesn’t need a driver to get you from point A to point B.
On the inside, the IMs looks like a spaceship. The entire dashboard is covered in LCD touchscreens, while the flat steering wheel has bizarre brass-colored cylinders whose only purpose must be to contain the dilithium crystals that allow the IMs to achieve warp velocity.
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According to Nissan, "In manual driving mode, the IMs concept's interior becomes a driver-centric cockpit with advanced driver-assistance technology and multi-level information displays, giving full vehicle control to the driver. In autonomous drive mode, the IMs concept can transform from an engaging driver's car to a fully autonomous vehicle, allowing the driver to engage in conversation with passengers, catch up on work or just enjoy the numerous entertainment options."
The IMs also features a "Premier Seat" 2 + 1 + 2 seating architecture, which basically means the rear bench can either seat two cramped people or one luxuriously accommodated person, depending on whether the armrests are folded down or not.
But best of all, the IMs has suicide doors.
Expect to see more electric vehicles come from Nissan as the Japanese carmaker fills out their lineup with 7 more EVs, starting with the Leaf+.