Prepare Yourselves: An Electric Nissan GT-R Is Coming

May. 18, 2022 11:01 AM ET byGerhard Horn Supercars /11 Comments

Just be patient.

The R35Nissan GT-Ris an epic machine, but it's nearly 13 years old and should be taken round to the back of the barn and shot in the face. If only to make space for the R36, which Nissan alreadyconfirmed it was working onback in 2018.

Security around the GT-R project is exceptionally tight. There have been several rumors of late, and they are entirely contradictory.

Earlier in May, we报道了谣言started by the Japanese publication,Best Car Web.It claimed that the R36 would be internal combustion only, which is the opposite of what the same publication reported earlier, claiming it would be a hybrid.

Today, there's a new rumor suggesting the R36 will be all-electric. Cue R35 values shooting through the roof. The source of the rumors? The same Japanese website, which claims to have a scoop about the R36's development.

First, it says that Nissan is no longer interested in competing with its famous rival, thePorsche 911 Turbo. Instead, Nissan will be targeting theTaycanwith an R36 that's only scheduled to launch in 2028. According to the publication, it will use Nissan's new solid-state battery technology. The energy density of these batteries is double the norm, which comes with an entirely new set of problems. Nissan claims to have solutions, but the penalty will be a long lead time.

That part of the rumor matches whatwe know to be factual, so will the next-gen GT-R be a BEV?

We're not entirely convinced for two good reasons. The first is the recent introduction of the newNissan Z. The sports car is gloriously old-school, with a twin-turbo V6 in the front, a manual gearbox in the middle, and power going to the rear wheels only.

Nissan invested millions in the new Z, which tells us it's not ready to go full BEV with its icons. We were also lucky enough to interviewNissan's head of designrecently. Alfonso Albaisa said he's looking forward to incorporating EV elements into legacy models. Note the use of the words "EV elements" and not wholly electrifying.

That points to at least one more GT-R using a combination of ICE and battery power before the inevitable switch to full electric.