Nissan Mixim: the lowdown
This outlandish electric sports car will form the centrepiece of Nissan’s Frankfurt Motor Show stand. As you can tell from its squashed insect looks, the Mixim is no production car in prick-tease show-off mode. This is a far-flung fantasy on the long-distance radar of Nissan’s product planners. Now we’ve cleared that up, what’s the point of the Mixim? Pay less attention to the outlandish looks and concentrate on the tech. This car is small and is built to showcase Nissan’s packaging know-how and its burgeoning clean-fuels tech.
So it’s yet another eco concept that’ll never see the light of day? How disapointing…
The Mixim showcases Nissan’s electric motor/generator powertrain, with one motor up front and one aft driving the rear wheels, and uses lithium ion batteries to store the power. With those two motors, it’s obviously four-wheel drive. Nissan has yet to announce full details for how the Mixim’s powertrain works, but we are told that it weighs a modest 950kg which should endow it with reasonable performance for a small sports coupe.
And what’s all this about clever packaging?
The Mixim is tiny, measuring a slight 3700mm long, 1800mm wide and 1400mm high – making it shorter and lower than a Micra but a tad wider. The wraparound windscreen (allegedly modelled on the curve of a helmet visor) fronts a compact passenger compartment with room for three passengers; the driver sits centrally, with two seats either side, plus there’s an occasional fourth seat behind the front three.