Blurring the scenery silently in the BladeGlider

The setting is the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. It’s midnight, and Hollywood actor Margot Robbie gets behind the wheels of a futuristic-looking car. Robbie roars off, hitting 100kmph in less than five seconds and puts the car through the paces, racing through the iconic Tunnel and along Massenet before finishing in the glamorous Casino Square.

Just another promo for another car, or is there a “So” factor?

The BladeGlider that the Wolf of Wall Street star drives is all-electric, made by Nissan Motor Co. It’s the Japanese car-maker’s statement of its commitment to electric vehicles, making them more capable and good looking too.

The BladeGlider itself is but one component of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility blueprint for the future of motoring, targeting zero emission and zero fatalities as announced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

As Roel De Vries, Nissan’s Global Head of Marketing and Brand Stratrgy, says: “The electric revolution is at an inflexion point. And, as a global leader in EVs (electric vehicles) – the Nissan Leaf is the current best-seller world-wide – it is time to showcase all the benefits of driving an electric car – from energy efficiency to sustainability, from handling to performance – especially as mass adoption appears not very far on the horizon.”

The BladeGlider is still the stuff of Nissan’s proving grounds – a technology demonstator, if you will – but the car-maker does have practical day-to-day electric vehicles like the Leaf and hybrids like the Note e-Power. Driving these vehicles, even in a controlled environment at the Sodegaura race track, an hour’s drive from Nissan’s Yokohama headquarters, can significantly change the perception of EVs both for the professional driver and amateurs like yours truly.

After driving Nissan’s conventional EVs, it was time to change track. It’s not designed to win a beauty competition, but in terms of space, the Serena is right up there. The hybrid version of this giant box is the Serena S-Hybrid, the S standing for Smart or Simple. According to Nissan, the it carries on with the S-Hybrid powertrain from its predecessor, which in this case, involves a MR20DD 2.0 litre direct-injected twin-CVTC four-cylinder petrol engine that develops 147PS at 5,600 rpm, while torque output is 210Nm at 4,400 rpm.

The engine is mated to an Xtronic CVT, and is supplemented by an ECO motor that controls the car’s Idling Stop function and serves as an alternator during deceleration. The 1.8 kW/200A motor also allows for a “torque assist” function, providing a 50 Nm boost for up to one second when moving away from a standstill.

After driving the van, one is left with the impression that this is a vehicle for India, either for large families or for activity-driven nuclear units looking to getaway during weekends. But price may be a spoiler. After the serene laps, lined up is the Nismo RC, the world’s first 100 per cent race car based on the Leaf technology. It is powered by electricity, stored in its lithium-ion batteries. It doesn’t have an engine, uses no gas, and instead of roaring around the track, glides almost silently.

To keep it light, the body is made of carbon-fiber. It is wide and ground-hugging, with a large tail designed to create keep the car stable and firmly on the track. The car can be charged up to 80 per cent of its full capacity in 30 minutes using the CHAdeMO quick charging port located inside the rear cowl. The spin round the race track even for an amateur is quite exciting.

The surprise package of the day is the BladeGlider. To see Margot Robbie on a film is one thing but to be strapped in a seat just behind the Nissan driver quite another. The BladeGlider zooms off on the 1.3-km track and one realises the truth in what Neil Reeve, Section Manager, Global Product Communications, says about instant power. The open-top design, the speed it generates, and the agility with which it tackles the corners leave you wanting more. But time is limited and the line of journalists from India, South Africa, West Asia, and Latin America long. The BladeGlider challenges conventional thinking on the looks and deeds of an all-electric car.

Nissan says that its autonomous drive is not about removing humans from the equation, but bringing technology to build a partnership between the man and the machine, giving more confidence to drivers.

Enter, the ‘ProPilot’. On sale in Japan since last August, the ProPilot technology is only available on flagship ‘Highway Star’ variant of the Serena, and not even an option on any other model. The idea of testing the ProPilot on the Serena was to ride the van’s popularity in Japan, and get more people to accept the technology.

ProPilot is essentially a mating of adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist or active-steering technology. It works by teaming a single, windscreen-mounted, front-facing camera – which has been developed to recognise both vehicles ahead and lane markings – with a control unit, as also the throttle, brakes, and electric power steering. It keeps the driver informed as to what level of control the car has via a digital dash-top display.

To engage ProPilot, you push a steering wheel-mounted ‘Pilot’ button, which turns the system on and puts it on stand-by mode. The dash-top display shows white horizontal bars representing the desired distance to the vehicle ahead, white vertical lines representing the lane the car is to stay in, and a grey steering wheel representation.

Once a desired speed is set – done via the ‘Set’ button on the steering wheel – all features become green and ‘active’. At this point, you can take your feet off the pedals and your hands off the wheel – safely, of course. If the system ‘loses’ the car in front or the lane markings, the steering wheel display turns grey, and the driver is once again solely responsible for steering the vehicle. If the car ahead slows, ProPilot will ensure the selected gap is maintained, slowing itself automatically.

Keep your hands off the wheel for too long, though, and you will get a warning message telling you to put your hands back on the wheel.

ProPilot is not at the cutting edge of autonomous driving technology, yet, but it’s a significant step. Nissan is targeting 2018 for multi-lane autonomous driving technology that allows for automatic lane changes, and 2020 for fully-autonomous urban-road driving, includwing negotiating intersections. Again, an excellent idea for India’s stop-go traffic, ProPilot can take the strain off driving. But, unfortunately, it is not likely to happen quickly because the system is designed with certain infrastructure in mind, Well-marked lanes, to start with. The overall ecosystem must be rule-driven, else it won’t work.

From the very simple electric vehicles to autonomous driving, a large number of stake-holders need to be brought on board. As Schillaci says, some governments are more responsive than others to lower emissions or aim for zero accidents. The movement is slow now, but should gather pace quickly.

Beyond cars, Nissan is also revolutionising the way energy is generated and used with products like its xStorage Home unit and vehicle-to-grid technology, which harness the power of battery technology from electric vehicles. Just the savings customers make from such technology should pace up their adoption.

Nissan is moving rapidly up the Intelligent Mobility path. This technology’s intentions for the company and society at large raise much optimism about Nissan. Some times, it is best to believe that things will happen. As Robbie says, “It’s a really exciting time for electric vehicles.”

The writer was in Yokohama, Japan, recently at the invitation of Nissan Motor Company

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