Driving the Nissan Mobility Concept Vehicle in New York City

Nissan’s Mobility Concept Vehicles NMC in New York City.

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We were welcomed to New York City prior to the New York International Auto Show by Nissan to take a drive in their Mobility Concept Vehicle (NMC), an ultra-compact, all electric, four-wheel runabout. This was an informal meet and greet with the #NissanFutureLab Team.

Nissan held an informal gathering prior to The New York International Auto Show to drive their Mobility Concept Vehicle.

Prior to our taking this little quad out for an exciting drive in New York City’s crazy traffic, we sat down with Nissan’s Josh Westerhold, an Urban Planner by training and mobility guru by profession, to hear all about this vehicle.

No rear window on the Nissan Mobility Concept Vehicle.

The NMC is all electric with a top speed of 45 mph and a range of 40 miles on a single charge. Designed for the sole purpose of transporting one or two people from place to place. The NMC vehicle has a rugged look with outboard fenders, exposed wheels and struts.

While it has a cabin with a windshield and scissor-like doors that swing forward. It is open to the elements with no side windows.

The interior is clean and simple, with a single driver’s seat. It can either be fitted with a tandem rear seat, or a package tray, to carry a second person or a small cargo of items. The NMC is without HVAC, but has an instrument cluster that tells you speed and battery life.

#NissanFutureLab’s Mobility Concept Vehicle is a single/tandem seat, open air vehicle .

Nissan Mobility Concept Vehicle has exposed fenders, headlights and a mono-blade windshield wiper.

Outside it has the basics of a road vehicle, a mono-blade windshield wiper and turn signals, headlights and rear view mirrors, as there is no back window.

Segway showed this single passenger, two wheeled, self-balancing experimental vehicle at the New York Auto Show in 2008.

 

This little runabout is more like a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or a Golf Cart that you would see in private suburban gated communities. It reminded me of the Segway/GM experimental vehicle shown at NYIAS about ten years ago.

Indeed the NMC is on the tiny side of compact, smaller than the NYC Pedi-cabs, and a Nissan Leaf is a behemoth in comparison. So wrangling for space on NYC’s crowded streets with taxicabs and black car limousines was like flying an RC plane alongside 747’s.

Cars appear bigger while driving a small vehicle.

Driving on NYC streets in any vehicle is a testimate to your metal. Driving the NMC reminded me of when I was a kid, hot-rodding the riding lawnmower at full speed. While the NMC does have a suspension, you did get to feel every bump, and driving over rattling manhole covers, made you wonder if they were going to swallow you before a bus ran over you!

Charging port and windshield washer fluid resivor located on the front of the NMC.

But size has its advantages in the jungle of NYC, the NMC slipped into small openings in traffic, pulling into the space between vehicles, that the drivers of larger vehicles thought were already tight. The NMC was nimble enough to slip in, and the battery powered electric motors were powerful enough for you to speed off when you had the chance.

#NissanFutureLab

The Nissan Mobility Concept is a product of the joint partnership between France’s Renault and Japan’s Nissan, known as theTwizy, debuting a concept vehicle in 2009, and has been on the market in Europe since 2012.

This little Electric Vehicle is already in use in European cities, and here in the USA, it is part of a test fleet in San Francisco’sScoot Network, (a scooter rental service) and labeled the Scoot Quad.

 

While not planned for the consumer market, other than a few urban test fleets, you can find out more about this vehicle on Nissan’s website.  #NissanFutureLab

Photos and article by: William West Hopper

Posted by William Hopper at 5:32 PM No comments:

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Labels: Mobility Concept Vehicle, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, New York City, New York International Auto Show, Nissan, NissanFutureLab, NYIAS, Renault, Scoot, Scoot Quad, Twizy

Location: Pennsylvania Station, New York, NY 10119, USA

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Infiniti QX60 Is Better Than an a Luxury SUV or Crossover, Much Better!

We had a chance to put 1800 miles on a 2015 Infiniti QX60 out of the Mid-Atlantic press fleet for a trip to Florida, it arrived with just shy of 25K on the odometer.

Infiniti’s QX60 the luxurious modern full-size Station Wagon.

While the PR Staff from Infiniti apologized about the high miles, and that it was last year’s model, for me, it is good to see how a car holds up after the initial new car smell is gone.

The inside of the Infiniti QX60 features wheat colored leather and maple wood trim accents.

This one was doing just fine! Its bright wheat beige leather seats and black carpeting were not heading to the rough trade of being a press car that gets a new driver every week. Hint, press fleet cars have a rougher life than rental fleet cars.

The long muscular hood of the Infiniti QX60.

The first thing I noticed getting into it, was the size of the and muscular look of the hood, not unlike that of a Porsche Cayenne.

The dash of the QX60 lacks the iconic Infiniti oval analog clock.

While the inside was clearly an obsessively designed Japanese dash with plenty of buttons and controls to manage everything from the headlights, to the heated seats. The only thing I felt was missing was the oval analog clock that Infiniti was chastised for when it came to market in the 1990’s.

Infiniti’s 3.5 6-cylinder engine under the muscular hood.

What I enjoyed while driving it, was the power from 265 hp, 248-pounds of ft.-torque, 3.5-liter, 6-cylinder engine and intelligent all-wheel drive with continuously variable transmission. The good fuel economy (in excess of 24 mpg on this trip.) And the wide range of active safety features, such as forward and rear collision warning systems, blind spot warning and prevention, intelligent cruise control with distance cruise assist, which kept an eye on the vehicle in front, and matched its speed without running up onto its tail.

Infiniti’s Active Safety Display features lane departure and blind spot warning systems.

Lane departure warning and prevention system was helpful during the long drive, especially in the dark, (where it continued to work, even though visual distances were impaired by rain.)

Blind Spot Warning light on each door.

Blind Spot Detection was especially helpful in heavy traffic on the interstate, when drivers appear out of nowhere, though the rear view mirrors were ample in size, it was great to have the assistance of this technology.

 

The Caravan of cars to Florida featured a BMW Z3, a rare Marcos GT, the Infiniti QX60, Ford Roush Performance Mustang with Track Package and a Jaguar XKE Coupe.

The intelligent cruise control and distance control assist was especially handy as we were part of a multi-car caravan of classic, and vintage cars heading to theAmelia Island Concours, made up of a diverse group of vehicles from a 2016 Roush Performance Mustang with Track Pack to a 1960 Jaguar XKE, from a BMW M Series to a rare Marcos_GT. AModel A Boat Tail open roadster that had recently gone on a race from New York City USA to Paris France recreation of one done a century ago, joined the group during the trip.

 

The QX60 sporting the Amelia or Bust sign at a lunch stop.

While one would think that our Infiniti QX60 would not seem to be in step with this Caravan of classic and exotic vehicles, organized by a Hagerty Insurance. The Infiniti QX60 took it all in stride, holding its own, being the car that passengers from other cars wanted to ride in, when they were being overwhelmed by the journey, or just tired of riding in an old classic.

 

Wonder where does this the QX60 fit in, in this modern world of vehicles? Without sliding side doors, it can’t be a minivan! Without big tires and a discernible 4X4 drive train, it is more refined than an SUV. And its size and stature make it a hard fit for a crossover. In reality it is a little bit of all three.

2nd & 3rd row rear seats fold down to extend the cargo area.

The QX60 succeeds as a luxurious and capable mover of people and cargo. Like a classic full sizestation wagon of yesteryear, with plenty of room, comfort and luxury. Passengers who jumped in after riding in the vintage classics, enjoyed the infinitely adjustable, heated and cooled seats, and the quietness of the cabin. And as the QX60 had plenty of cargo room with the rear seats down, it ended up carrying luggage and other large items.

Around View® monitor gives a new meaning to backup camera.

The QX60’s luxury appointments seemed almost like the standard features you need. It remembered the driver’s seating position, and provided a great view of the road, fore, and aft, as well as with the Around View® monitor with moving object detection and front and rear sonar, which made a simple backup camera seem like an outdated polaroid photograph, as this system gave you an aerial view of the vehicle’s surroundings.

The QX60 features plenty of glass roof as well as interior space.

Our 2015 model stickers at $56,090 with options of Roof Rails, $95. Infiniti’s Technology Package, $2,800 (included much of the safety features we really benefited from on a long trip like backup collision intervention, intelligent brake assist, forward collision warning, blind spot and lane departure warning, intelligent cruise control and distance control assist.) Deluxe Touring Package, $3,450 (20-Inch alloy wheels, Bose ® cabin surround sound, advanced climate control, climate-controlled front seats, heated second row seats, power moon roof and maple interior accents, that did not appear to be fake plastic.)   Premium Package, $1,550 (Bose® 13-speaker premium sound system, dual occupant memory system heated steering wheel and enhanced intelligent key, and remote engine start.) And Premium Plus Package, $3K, (Infiniti Connection™ and hard drive navigation, 8-Inch VGA Color touch screen, voice recognition, Sirius XM’s NavTraffic &NavWeather, Around View® monitor and moving object detection, rain-sensing windshield wipers.) That brought the price up from a base of $43,800. As I used all of those packages and options on this trip, except for the remote start, I would say they were an essential part of my positive Infiniti experience.

Hagerty Classic Car Insurance’s Motto “Life is too short to drive Boring Cars.”

My overall impression of this vehicle is it is a great if you travel long distances or have people and cargo to haul. It will work as a great family mover, or as a vehicle for a traveling business person who needs to carry thing with them. The safety features made me feel secure and the luxury features made the drive comfortable and enjoyable, especially on such a long trip.

Infiniti Logo on the grill of the QX60.

Nissan’s Infiniti line debuted in the 1990’s bringing together what American automobile manufacturers were not providing consumers at the time, dependability in a luxurious vehicle. Since then, they have evolved as the American drivers looked for carry-all vehicles with luxurious touches. At a mid-fifty’s price, this QX60 is a vehicle that gives the buyer a lot of value for the money. The 2016 model, has been refreshed with new Infiniti design language, the chassis dynamics have been returned for a more engaging and comfortable drive, and the interior has been enhanced luxury for up to 7 passengers. An augmented suite of safety and driving assistance technology which include predictive forward collision warning and emergency braking with pedestrian detection. All of which are perfect for this or any other model.

Build your own Infiniti QX60. We built a 2016 model to the specs of the 2015 QX60 Infiniti provide us with, and came out with a price less than the 2015 model. Price includes the $995 destination & handling fee. As a prudent buyer, make use of your membership in a credit union, AAA, Costco, or similar organization. Often they have connections to local dealers which result in a lower price.

Take a test drive today at your neighborhood Infiniti dealer of the QX60, and also check out the new Infiniti Q50 Sedan, which is also a pretty nice ride.

The new Infiniti Q50 Sedan, a pocket rocket dressed in a nice suit.

Remember buying from a dealer for a lower price, miles away, may not be the most prudent purchase decision. Supporting local businesses within your community is important to everyone.

Enjoy the Drive – William West Hopper