The latest member of the Nissan Z family should emerge before the end of the year, and now the company wants us to know it will neither be fully nor even partially electric.
The corresponding statement was made by Ivan Espinosa, Senior VP of the company. He opined that the current electric car technology does not lend itself too well to sports cars. He added that Nissan might electrify its performance range at some point in the future, but hardly in the next generation.
He did not comment on the Tesla Model 3 sedan being comparably fast to most modern gas-powered performance cars.
The new Z model – rumored to be called 400Z – will probably not differ too much from the current-gen 370Z in terms of tech, but it might get a shorter wheelbase. It might also gain the same 3.0-liter, turbocharged six-cylinder engine as the Infiniti Q60, rated at 400 hp (300 kW) or so. Both guesses remain unconfirmed.
What the alleged 400Z will look like is yet another mystery. There are only a few teaser pics, plus unofficial fan renderings of the car. That said, Ivan Espinosa did mention that a reveal should take place soon, so we will probably learn more in the coming days.