Fully Charged INFINITI M35h episode 24

[reevsaj]

The new BMW 5 Series Acrive Hybrid should be an interesting comparison to this.

[Desus80]

As usual, very interesting review Robert. I'm looking for a premium hybrid for chauffering mostly around city. I've tested the Lexus but not the Infiniti: how do you compare them in terms of comfort and efficiency?

[jacksawild]

I don't believe that the Tesla has been around the Top Gear test track. I'm not saying that Rupert Murdoch is elbow deep up Clarkson's bum... but I am thinking it.

[m1aws]

@jacksawild Top gear gets sponsorship from Shell. Thought you'd like to know this.

[jacksawild]

@m1aws If that were true there would be hell to pay as the TV show is funded by the license fee (i.e me) and requires a degree of impartiality (in theory). I think it is true that the live show has Shell sponsorship which IS uncomfortable, to say the least. Clarkson DOES have links to Murdoch, a well known climate science denier. Perhaps Clarkson needs to leave the BBC.

[m1aws]

@jacksawild There was a thorough report about it in the Guardian. Google for this guardian blog:

"Top Gear's electric car shows pour petrol over the BBC's standards". It's all there.

[jacksawild]

@m1aws I generally agree with you and I did read the opinion article in the Guardian (hardly a thorough report). Having said that, they do have a duty to be honest even if it is "just an entertainment show". Hopefully, the beeb will crack down on them but I fear they'll simply move to Sky and be allowed to get away with much worse. I think Monbiot hit the nail on the head when he concluded that money is the driving force here. I also think that battery cars will kill the 2nd hand market.

[m1aws]

@jacksawild The Libertarians have complained the Beeb has broken its legal promises by accepting EU funding. The BNP have complained about impartiality. You hear the news backtracking to stop the riots. The hoola and constant reporting about phone hacking amazingly has not hit the BBC fan yet. Keeping eye's averted. That is why they made so much of it with Murdoch etc. Should I go on?

A private company is the tax collector to Beeb funding. Disallow them on your premises. Game over, lol

[m1aws]

Read up about LiFePo4's. 2,000 cycle life to 80% DoD.

Don't compare with Laptops LiCo cells, 50 cycles to 80% DoD.

Lithium titanate cells will be a real lifetime cell. over 30,000 recharges to 80%. DoD and 5x more charge density than the others.

Haha. Sky definitely follows the money.

[jacksawild]

@m1aws The batteries themselves will get better. My concern is with sizes, connectors and so forth. If all manufacturers could sign up to some kind of standard, so they are interchangeable it would ease my concerns greatly. Look at Mobile phones, if you get a new phone you throw away your old battery. If they were standardised we could carry generic range extenders and the battery market would be competitive. Bespoke parts are always costly. Look at car parts for prestige models for example.

[m1aws]

@jacksawild Cars always have a high mark up on parts, that is why they hate to standardize. Usually over 350% over sale costs. The leaf for example use a large Li mau'fr to make the standard cells by the hundreds of thousands but they will never offer you the source. Only a big price to exchange a "module".

Charge points, coolant, bulbs etc. like with fuel cars are another matter.

[arunmur84]

@jacksawild The technology between the battery and the electric motor is of significant importance to the car. It was not until a few years ago these power electronics became really cheap. Even though every one is concentrating heavily on the battery, it is the technology between the battery and the motor that has to improve significantly so that you can have truly small plug-able battery modules.

Otherwise when new batteries come, with different voltage specs, you will be stuck with old one.

[jacksawild]

@arunmur84 That's a very interesting reply, thank you. I know what manufacturers will want to happen, audi batteries for audi cars etc but this will not make this new technology tempting to consumers while well established alternatives are available. i.e fossil fuels.

[arunmur84]

@jacksawild Yes. This is going to take a while because in market terms, it needs one company so successful in EV's that every one accepts that as a norm. Or the battery technologies in the near future should diverge enough that large companies are forced to develop a single generic power electronics.

Luckily people still EV's as cars with Lithium batteries without all the intrinsic differences. They have not yet changed the batteries to think of buying them from the market.

[CAESARbonds]

46.8 mpg? for that luxury and powerful car?

that is great :D

[mentar]

Interesting episode, but seems to be straying away from what I though this series was about and that's primarily electric cars (to include plugin-hybrids). I realise it's tricky coming up with new cars to review as there are SO few of them, but have you maybe considered at looking at what people who took the electric car market situation into their own hand and come up with their own ev conversions (some of which are listed on the evalbum website)

[namespacetoosmall]

Please don't stop with the personal opinions about tax-dodging executives. Facts and figures are easy enough to find (try Wikipedia) but Fully Charged is a great car show that isn't all about self-centered amusemed, without a care about others.

Please Robert, don't sacrifice your personal style for the Top Gear fanboys.

[fullychargedshow]

@namespacetoosmall Thanks for that, nice to hear. It's always a difficult balance to strike but I appreciate your support

[ThalassTKynn]

Great episode. I knew motorsport produced advances that filtered down to everyday vehicles, but it hadn't occurred to me that high end cars had the same usefulness.

I really can't wait until you drive a Tesla Model S. Ye gods!

[isbrown]

I generally like the Fully Charge series, but this one was a bore. Enough of that prepubescent crap about tax dodging overpaid executives, please! Also, a hybrid is still a hybrid. The episodes about EVs have been interesting. I don't know about other viewers but I'm not interested in a show about the options now available on luxury cars. If I was, I could watch shows about any of the new ICE vehicles out there. Come on Robert, you can do better!

[fireandchutes77]

"...But what has happened out of Formula 1 cars is things like brakes that work."

Favorite part of the video. The delivery was brilliant. XD (Ha. I'm too young to have experienced "brakeless cars.")

Audio-video sync was a little off in the second half of the video.

Re: complaining how huge and oversized the car was: Britain is so adorable. Here in AMMURCA that'd be a decent mid-size. :D

I've never seen all those lane assist (& etc) technologies in action before.... very cool.

[dave777blaster]

great review !

[metroperson]

this is cool, as always.

[joshhwa]

I think I speak for most when I say, we are only interested in EVs from this channel, not another top gear.

[omendark123]

You think that because it is a hybrid, or an electric car, its amazing.Look at the bmw 520d (25k), it emits about the same, but it is a diesel, and gets about 65mpg. New Renault clios with the small diesel get about 88mpg, and only cost about £10,000. You can get ones for £6000-£7000 for quite cheap. No need to buy expensive electric cars as they are too expensive, just wait till gordon murrays t27 electric city car. Clio/used £10k hatchback >leaf

[Vanuatoo]

Nice steering. Nissan knows how to make good steering

[lgreen5]

Time to upgrade the intro and extro graphics. The Smart Car is a failure. Use the Tesla.

[Keeper1st]

@lgreen5 That isn't a Smart; it's an i-Miev.

[adric22]

Strange some of the negative remarks on here about hybrids. Yet, you can be sure Toyota's success with the hybrid helped prove the technology, which prompted Nissan and others to go for the pure-electric vehicles.

[OneOfaKind949]

People you are missing the point of this car... I truly believe Infiniti made this car to enhance the performance of the ICE. Power output for the V6 is 301 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque. The 360-volt motor is rated at 67 hp (50kW) at 2,000 rpm and 199 lbs.-ft. of torque. Total output is 368 hp and 475 pound-feet of torque! 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds. This is the only car that has all this power and gets 32mpgs! It's the first true hybrid super car made for everyone.

[DonkeyHellfire]

I agree with a lot of commenters here that unless a hybrid car has the capability to charge the battery from the grid then it’s not worth consideration as a step to worthwhile fuel reduction more merely greenwashing.

[polpotsdog]

blind spot light...i like that.

[munteruk]

How about a few details about the car rather than personal opinion of tax dodging executives? What sort of battery does it have? Who makes the batteries? Is it series or parallel hybrid? What is the battery capacity? What is the sticker fuel economy? Did I miss this stuff or is it not there? I like your channel and watch all the vids but this is not one of your best.

[fullychargedshow]

@munteruk I take all your points, I think you're right, it's a steep learning curve for me. However there are numerous other sources for such information and maybe my opinions about what the technology does, how it develops and the politics behind the decisions are valid, but that said, some basic info wouldn't go amiss. I will try harder.

[Jesus45U]

@fullychargedshow

Interestingly, big "executive saloons" tend to be safer on long distance trips, not just because of bigger crumble zones, but also because they tire the driver less, so he's better able to stay alert during the entire trip, and thus less accident prone.

So for stuff like cross continental trashes, big cars work great.

But I'm with you in general, for the daily drive they are quite wasteful.

Also, can't say Infinity like can say "Jaaag" !

Say it in a Jeremy Clarkson voice.

[paytontech]

@munteruk I think his comments were valid and relevant to his whole philosophy and series. They didn't eat much of the time in the video either so he was on point and well within bounds. I do agree that he could have given a few numbers on the car though.

[WillMasterke]

same technology as our volvo xc60 which is 3 years old :) (except the hybrid stuff :D )

[WillMasterke]

Hybrid's are not as green and effecient as they say! I say if it doesn't have a plug or run on hydrogen it is not a good green car! :) the best green car now would be a plug-in fuel cell car :) that would be amazing :D

[andygoth]

@WillMasterke Hydrogen certainly isn't green, it's incredibly energy intensive to produce.

[WillMasterke]

@andygoth well I didn't know that :) thanks for that :) although if u make hydrogen with green energy it could be pretty green no? Anyway I'm a huge supporter of electric cars :D

[cloggsy1971]

Great show again Robert! Keep up the good work :o)

[rock3tcat]

These type of cars are nothing but gimmicks... Overweight, still dependent on an ICE and a relatively small electric range...

A car should either be pure electric or pure fossil fuel powered, hybrid power plants only start to become useful in big heavy applications such as diesel locomotives..

[R4t10n4L]

@rock3tcat The price premium for that limited electric capability is pretty steep; it would be better if they made something like a Volt but with greater electric range

[paytontech]

@rock3tcat I Thumbed you up but your ideas need a tweak. Hybrids make sense when they're properly engineered. That means a pure electric car with full capability supplemented with small, lightweight, simple a 20-40 or so horsepower ICE genset. That's the only Hybrid that truly makes sense. Hybrids are all about proportion (proper electric drive with small engine as genset and emergency backup) and configuration (engine mustn't drive the wheels, too complex and heavy).

[martinwinlow]

@rock3tcat - As an EV driver (evalbumdotcom/2092) I see your point. However, those who have a reluctance to embrace change (most of humankind) may find that they have the best of both worlds in a PLUG IN hybrid ie one they charge at home each night or at work each day. Electric efficiency/low cost - no range anxiety. If they use it for commuting, local errands etc, they will soon realize that they haven't put any fuel it for months and therefore don't need the ICE bit at all. Job done. MW.

[DanFrederiksen]

good show but don't be afraid to call it what it is. it's a fossil fuel burner, poor aerodynamics and massively overweight. there is no light weight engineering in that car from formula one. that association is purely a lie. don't be afraid to call them on it.

if it has no plug then it is just not green at all.

that type of vehicle has no future. tell it like it is.

[LosDTenaces]

alot of floor......I SUPPOSE YOU CAN GET ALOT OR CARPET!

[qpoon]

"I saw Mr Vettel's gearbox" . ooooh matron!

:P

[rainbowsalads]

That auto break accelerate is quite clever. is this so we can relax? Maybe sleep ? or eat crisps, add a few pounds to our thighs? Automation like this is just the begining of a fully automated vehicle from A to B. The loss of our manual freedom bound to one day become compulsory by the government insurance companies.

speed cameras will one day be a thing of the past , > we wont be able to speed.

[rainbowsalads]

correction : with a fully automated vehicle network all controlled by computers. cars will be a hell lot quicker , all slipstreamed , far fewer crashes/ kids being knocked down, no need to stop at junctions, the computers would orchestrate a super efficient dual way river of electric vehicles. : ) hopefully with manual control in certain areas of the country : )

[Sazuki74]

I wish you said things in kilometres I do not understand miles but still cool show

[ninjabob2456]

@Sazuki74 multiply by 1.6 to get kilometres, fairly simple.

[feckingbillgates]

@Sazuki74 It's easy to work out kilometers from miles, and I hope he doesn't stop doing it in miles.

[Nightmare060]

The sound is a little bit out of sync in this video, but otherwise, very interesting :).