2012 Infiniti M35h gets cheaper to run
Thu, 29 Mar 20122012 Infiniti M35h gets more frugal
The 2012 Infinit M35h has been tweaked to lower its emissions and improve its economy, meaning real savings for company car drivers.
We’re not the biggest fans of hybrid powertrains, it’s true to say, but that has more to do with the staggering amount car makers charge to offer the complex technology. But Infiniti is different, and their M35h costs just £1180 more than the comparable M30d with a diesel engine.
In our book, that makes the Infiniti M35h the pick of the bunch, especially for a company car driver. And Infinit has managed to tweak the M35h for 2012 to be just a tad less emitting and a smidge more economical. But the small tweaks give worthwhile returns for companies and company car drivers.
Infiniti has managed to get the M35h’s emissions down to 159g/km, not a big drop from the 162g/km it did have but a small drop that actually makes a difference. That’s because sub-160g/km cars get tax breaks including a BIK drop from 23 per cent to 22 percent (£180 a year saving for a 40 per cent taxpayer) and a doubling of the writing down allowance to 20 per cent.
To tweak the emissions down a tad Infiniti has enhanced the efficiency of the electric motor and battery charging, which allows the M35h to spend just a bit more time on EV power – enough to trim the emissions on official figures. Drivers won’t notice any difference apart from in their wallets, with even fuel consumption improving by 0.5mpg as a result.
At £46,840 the 2012 Infinit M35h isn’t the cheapest hybrid option, but in terms of performance (the Infiniti M35h is the world’s fastest hybrid) relative to running costs you can’t do better in the exec-express market.
By Cars UK