Infiniti's New Electric Cars Will Have Something Called I-Power

Jan. 16, 2021 6:10 AM ET by Jared Rosenholtz Scoop / 13 Comments

It looks to be the luxury carmaker's own version of Nissan's E-Power.

After discontinuing the Q50 Hybrid back in 2018, Infiniti no longer has an electrified vehicle in its lineup. This should change soon, though, as the Infiniti brand has expressed interest in introducing a slew of new electric models with range extenders that do not need to be plugged in. Nissan currently uses E-Power name on the Note in Japan and for the hybrid Kicks sold in other markets, and Infiniti is expected to borrow Nissan's e-4ORCE electric technology, which will first arrive in the United States in the new Ariya.

When luxury automakers borrow technology from their mainstream counterparts, they rarely proceed without a name change. While scouring through the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, we may have come across the name that Infiniti will use on its upcoming electrified vehicles.

Nissan recently filed for the name "I-Power," which is suspiciously close to the name E-Power. The "I" could correspond to the Infiniti brand, helping the luxury automaker differentiate its technology from the mainstream Nissan lineup.

The trademark filing doesn't give any specifics on I-Power but gives a rough idea of what we can expect. Filed on January 5, 2021, it was categorized under Goods and Services, and includes the following description:

"Electric drive unit for land vehicles; bodies for vehicles; automobile chassis; transmissions for land vehicles; steering wheels for automobiles; automobiles and their parts and fittings; automobiles; electric vehicles and their parts and fittings; fuel cell vehicles and their parts and fittings; AC motors and DC motors for land vehicles; mechanical elements for land vehicles; shafts, axles or spindles for land vehicles; bearings for land vehicles; shaft couplings or connectors for land vehicles; axle bearings for land vehicles; power transmissions and gearing for land vehicles; shock absorbers for land vehicles; springs for land vehicles; brakes for land vehicles; driving motors for land vehicles; hybrid system for automobile, trucks, vans, sport utility vehicles, motor buses, recreational vehicles (RV), sports cars, racing cars; electric automobiles; hubs for vehicle wheels; vehicle wheels; propulsion mechanisms for land vehicles."

Nissan may have left the filing vague not to give away its plans for the I-Power name. The Ariya will boast 214 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque in its base guise, with a faster variant offering 388 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. Infiniti's new CEO, Peyman Karga, has hinted that his company's new electrified models should produce anywhere from 200 to 400 hp, meaning I-Power could be a direct carryover of E-Power, just with a new name.

We still have no clues what Infiniti model will be the first to use I-Power. Our best guess is the next-generation Infiniti QX60, which was recently previewed by the QX60 Monograph Concept.