First Sight: Infiniti Emerg-e

It's a month before the Geneva motor show and amongst the usual pre Motor Show commotion I receive a string of cryptic emails about an Infiniti electric sports car concept. The name Emerg-e is only revealed as I drive to the secret preview at Park Royal Studios in West London to meet the big three in design – global design director Shiro Nakamura, Francois Bancon of advanced design and head of Nissan Design Europe Victor Nacif. This is clearly a critical car for Infiniti.

"Emerg-e isn't just another sports luxury car," fires off Bancon, "it is a symbol for Infiniti." The name, he notes, is a play on words referring to an emerging concept for sustainable mobility that merges the conventional combustion engine and the electric powertrain. "Behind this curtain is our sustainable mobility story."

Emerg-e completes the trilogy of conceptual studies exploring Infiniti design that include the 2009 Essence and 2011 Etherea. The curtains are drawn back and the car is theatrically unveiled. "They have the same design language in a different package," notes Nakamura. "Emerg-e has classic sports car proportions in a compact package that shows our future design direction."

Bathed in Immersion Silver, with 20-inches wheels at the front and 21-inches in the rear, the car looks forceful. It is also a fully engineered prototype featuring a range-extender drivetrain mounted mid-ship, although what we see here is an early version that will be repainted and re-trimmed in time for Geneva.

Following an internal global competition, out of over 80 sketches three were selected and from here the team decided on the proposal by Randy Rodriguez from the San Diego studio. Nacif says what stood out from the others was "the sense of armor – of strength mixed with grace – whilst still incorporating the crescent cut in an innovative way so that it is almost a theoretical shape."

The design, he adds, was completed at the NDE studios in London. Here modifications were carried out to the rear where the lights were simplified and the form made less boxy. "In the original sketch the body was fairly straight but we wanted to show a little more voluptuousness, shape and form. We also lowered the height," says Nacif.

For the interior design Bert Dehaes of NDE worked with color and trim specialist Gail Patrick. "Bert and Randy started using exactly the same form language," smiles Nacif, adding: "So the shapes and forms on the exterior are repeated inside."

Emerg-e represents a new package for Infiniti. "We are looking at how we can apply the Infiniti design vocabulary to this kind of car," explains Bancon as we circle the car. He is tickled by the paradox of creating a performance car with zero noise: "It is combination of an exclusive car that is perfectly quite, with zero emissions but having the highest level of performance you would want."

Nakamura interjects explaining that the face is very intense and that the eyes are inspired by Japan. He says the crescent motif is reminiscent of the neck of the kimono. "It is very sensual, seductive and elegant don't you think?" he smiles adding wryly: "The crescent is Infiniti; we need something."

The air vents on the side are both a stylistic addition and aero efficient allowing the air, in the words of Nacif, "to enter, hug the body and cool the engine and the battery pack." He notes the engineers wanted to shrink these to the bare minimum but design went for the opposite so that the car would appear powerful and sporty.

The cabin has been divided into two distinct areas – Carbon Black leather for the driver and Shark Gray on the passenger side – to visually separate these two areas. "It is like yin-yang," explains Nakamura.

The instrument panel combines the digital and analogue. "On the steering wheel we have a little piece of jewel that Bert added to symbolize the strip they put in racing cars," beams Nacif.

He says when you turn the ignition on, a stream of violet light floods from front to rear into the energy source – as in the battery pack. I take his word for it since this model hasn't been calibrated. "Part of the electric story is how do we treat light to convey energy."

As I make my final observations I ask Nakamura if he would have made any further changes. "I would make the front stronger; it is a little soft," he shrugs. "I think the profile is the car's strength."

By Nargess Shahmanesh Banks