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Recharge Wrap-up: Infiniti considers EV for China, NextEV hires former Tesla, Apple engineer

NextEV has hired Tesla Autopilot and Apple veteran Jamie Carlson as Senior Director of Advanced Technologies. The seasoned autonomous driving engineer joins fellow former Autopilot engineer Kurt Thywissen, who is now NextEV Senior Director of Human-Machine Interaction. NextEV, which is working on an all-electric supercar before focusing on mainstream EVs, recently obtained a self-driving car permit from California and opened its North American headquarters in San Jose. Read more at Electrek. Infiniti is considering launching its first EV in China. "When I think about EV, we design it for China definitely, even as the first market to launch," says Infiniti President Roland Krueger. "We are discussing this internally constantly what is the right timing for Infiniti to have such vehicles." Infiniti has held back on launching an EV, focusing instead on hybrids, but says it could be "very fast" in deploying an EV once it decides to do so. Having Nissan and Renault backing Infiniti, the luxury brand is confident about its access to proven EV technology. Read more at Automotive News Europe. Thrifty car rental has added a Tesla Model S to its fleet in Canberra, Australia. Available at the Canberra Airport, it's the first luxury EV offered for rent from a mainstream rental company in Australia. Australia's capital offers a small registration discount and no stamp duty for EVs, making it a cheaper and more practical place to locate the country's first rental Tesla. Thrifty's parent company, NRMA, is calling on Australia's other states and territories to remove financial and regulatory barriers to EV technology. Read more at The Motor Report.

2022 Infiniti Q60 gets wireless Apple CarPlay

Infiniti has announced what's new for the 2022 Q60 and the list contains one item: wireless Apple CarPlay. This is after the automaker made the most minor of changes to the 2021 Q60. We can almost imagine one of the coupes sitting outside Infiniti HQ playing a particular Ray Parker, Jr. song on repeat, with the line, "If you're not sure that you want me, let me go." Thing is, the Q60's sales figures aren't bad, not far off the Chevy Camaro's numbers since the Infiniti got refreshed in 2016. Sales have plummeted this year — and so have the Camaro's — but the freefall puts the Q60 right in line with the Toyota Supra. Rumor has it that Infiniti's only going to keep its flagship coupe around until 2023 anyway, when it will embrace electrification, meaning the Q60 could continue to follow the Camaro into the sunset. Prices for the entire range run thusly after a $1,025 destination charge:  Infiniti Q60 Pure – $42,775 Infiniti Q60 Luxe – $51,325 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400 – $59,225 Adding AWD is a $2,000 option on all trims. And Android Auto is still included, but the phone must be plugged in for that. To recap the trim line, the Pure and Luxe run with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The Q60 Red Sport whips 400 hp and 350 lb-ft out of the same engine. All models shift though a seven-speed automatic.  Pure and Luxe sit on 19-inch wheels, but the Pure interior makes do with leatherette seating trim while the Luxe upgrades to semi-aniline leather on heated front seats and other perks such as adaptive cruise control and 13-speaker Bose Performance Series sound. The Q60 Red Sport ups the tire contact patch with staggered 20-inch wheels and upgrades the suspension to adaptive damping, further sharpening its reflexes with a faster steering rack.

Infiniti will reinvent its models, tech and design language as part of reboot

Infiniti raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced plans to follow a strategy it described as Nissan-Plus. Although this term suggests the brand's image will be dangerously watered down, its chief executive stressed its flag will remain firmly planted in the luxury car segment as he outlined what to expect in the coming years. The executive team led by Infiniti boss Peyman Kargar will reboot the company with a focus on profitability. "Premium brands should bring more money to the company, so that's the objective. We are not at the level we want to be," he told Automotive News. Several new products are on their way, including a crossover with a fastback-like roofline named QX55, and Kargar clarified many future models will ride on an architecture shared with parent company Nissan. It will be compatible with gasoline-powered, hybrid and electric drivetrains. He explained sharing platforms and components is necessary to save money because the company, like its peers and rivals, is spending a small fortune on developing electrified, autonomous, and connected technology. The shift will likely spell the end of the driver-friendly rear-wheel drive platform found under the Q50 and the Q60, but don't expect Infiniti to put its emblem on, say, a Sentra, and call it a day. It will remain a luxury brand. "The objective is to use these assets of the company, and then to reinject the money we are saving into the luxury experience and ingredients of Infiniti. We will put more money into Infiniti's future, but this money will come from the savings in globalized platforms," Kargar explained. The strategy he's outlining is one many of the firm's competitors have already adopted. Lexus, Acura, and Audi all build cars using parts sourced from their respective parent company. Lamborghini's Urus is related to the Volkswagen Touareg under the sheetmetal. Kargar noted every upcoming new model will be defined by an overhauled design language. We don't know if recent concept cars (like the QX Inspiration introduced in Detroit in 2019; pictured) will influence its upcoming vehicles. However, its future cars will offer nicer interiors, more user-friendly infotainment systems, and they'll receive tech features before Nissan's variants get them, which, oddly, hasn't always been the case in recent years. Infiniti's turn-around will start in 2020, when the aforementioned QX55 makes its debut after a brief delay.