Amy Huschka Detroit Free Press Media covering the Detroit auto show Monday gathered at a press conference to see the dramatic reveal of an Infiniti luxury electric SUV concept vehicle. But a mishap of some sort spoiled the reveal of the Infiniti QX Inspiration. Karim Habib, executive design director of Infiniti, hit the stage and announced the concept would not be coming out because of a technical problem. Ouch. The company was planning to have the vehicle available for viewing shortly on the show floor. But not before the blunder left the crowd wanting. Infiniti later tweeted, "Coming soon." With a battery below the floor and electric motors on all four wheels, the Inspiration's passenger cabin is reportedly moved forward for more "lounge-like" interior space. It is said to have a low roof line sloping from front to back with small side windows. Infiniti wouldn't say how far the Inspiration can go on a single charge, but said it will offer "range confidence." No date for production has been set, and it's not certain whether the Inspiration will even be made. But Infiniti has said it plans to make only electric or gas-electric starting in 2021. More than 5,000 credentialed journalists from around the world were expected to attend the media preview. More than 750 vehicles are on display in Cobo Center in Detroit during the show with approximately 800,000 people expected to attend. The show is open to the public on Jan. 19-27. Associated Press contributed to this story. Follow Detroit Free Press journalist Amy Huschka on Twitter @aetmanshuschka.<doc-sep>Paul Eisenstein Special to The Detroit News Detroit — Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand hoped to debut its QX inspiration on Monday at the Detroit auto show, but it looked like it had a case of stage fright. The news conference to announce its unveiling started, but a mechanical problem with the vehicle prevented company officials from rolling it out to be seen by the international media as planned for several hours. Despite the glitch Monday, Nissan’s Infiniti brand has a history of rolling out some exotic concept cars. But it also has a record of transforming them into striking production vehicles like the current QX50 crossover. So, it would be foolish to dismiss the new QX Inspiration Concept as just another fantasy car. The QX Concept is "the embodiment of our future," Infiniti Global President Christian Meunier said. The new model has a crossover-like body and a fully electric drivetrain. That’s no surprise considering current market trends – and the fact that Infiniti officials have laid out plans to “electrify” virtually their entire lineup by 2021. Read: Steph Curry's Infiniti concept slam dunk ahead of Detroit auto show “The Infiniti QX Inspiration marks the beginning of a new generation of Infiniti cars and establishes a direct blueprint for the brand’s first electric vehicle,” Meunier said. It was just last year at the Detroit auto show, in fact, that Hiroto Saikawa, the CEO of parent Nissan Motor Co., laid out plans for a dramatic shift in strategy. Infiniti, he said, “will have a specific focus on electrification,” and will position itself as “the premier electrified brand” as part of a transition extending through 2022. That doesn’t mean every vehicle will be a direct Tesla-fighter. Some will be plug-in hybrids, possibly pairing an electric motor with Infiniti’s breakthrough VC-T, or Variable-Compression Turbo, engine. It’s the world’s first to be able to constantly adjust its compression ratio to deliver the desired balance of performance, emissions and fuel economy. Others, however, will go all-electric. The QX Inspiration is an example of the latter. And, like Tesla’s Model 3 and the new Jaguar I-Pace, it mounts its battery pack and motors beneath the load floor, rather than in the traditional engine compartment. That skateboard-style design offers a number of advantages, among other things lowering the vehicle’s center of gravity to improve road dynamics. "We think this is a unique opportunity to improve the ergonomics of our vehicle" by going electric," said Karim Habib, Infiniti's design director. The other big plus: designers and engineers can repurpose space traditionally devoted to the engine compartment. That can translate into a full-size cabin for a vehicle with a compact footprint. “The decision to electrify the Infiniti range was an inflection point for our brand,” said Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president for global design for Nissan Motor Co. “We started to understand the potential of new architectures and technologies and how they could influence a change in how we design our cars.” Infiniti isn’t offering much detail about the QX Inspiration’s electric drivetrain, though one might get a hint walking just a short distance over to the Nissan stand, where the parent marque is showing off a battery-electric show car of its own, the IMs. It features a 115 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, big enough to yield about 380 miles of range. Lifting a page from the Tesla handbook, Infiniti is putting as much emphasis on performance as range, suggesting the QX Inspiration would be able to deliver plenty of “instantaneous” torque and “blistering off-the-line acceleration.” The Nissan IMs puts out a full 483 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. Electric motors make virtually 100 percent of peak torque the moment they start turning, which is why they can handily match the launch feel of a muscle car. The Infiniti concept shifts away from the typical, long-nosed proportions of a luxury car, adopting a cab-forward design that is nonetheless as much a head-turner as last year’s Q Inspiration – only here adopting a more SUV-like stance. The nose of the QX, with no need to flood air into the engine compartment, features a smooth surface where the grille would otherwise go. An illuminated Infiniti logo is framed by channels meant to carefully flow air over the vehicle to reduce wind drag. They’re framed by thin strips of headlights. Inside, the QX Inspiration is designed to look more like a mobile lounge than a traditional luxury car. A widescreen monitor, flowing across the entire instrument panel, dominates the cabin. With no transmission tunnel, the cabin features a flat floor and the headliner adopts a louvered timber effect by using sugi, or Japanese redwood. “New technology has given us the opportunity to evolve our design philosophy,” said Karim Habib, Infiniti’s chief designer. “QX Inspiration is the beginning of a new era for Infiniti, and an illustration of where we want to go with the brand.” Those who have followed the brand since it made its original debut at the very first Detroit auto show 30 years ago are likely to know that there’s a very good chance that key design elements of the Infiniti QX Inspiration will be showing up on a production model over the next several years.<doc-sep>Update: The car went on to win three design awards Tuesday. DETROIT - Things don’t always go according to plan at the North American International Auto Show. Infiniti has ambitious plans to go all electric. But a Monday mishap at Detroit’s Cobo Center demonstrated just how difficult that could be. The Nissan luxury brand intended to show off its lavish QX Inspiration concept vehicle, but ran into some technical difficulties. Executives had trouble getting the vehicle to the stage. It appeared to fail to power on, just as the scheduled debut was about to take place. Crews were still working to bring it on stage after the press conference. The vehicle was meant to be a sign of Infinti’s move toward an all-electric lineup. “Infiniti will electrify its entire portfolio from 2021 and forward,” said Christian Meunier, chairman and global president, adding the vehicles will be battery electric or powered by Infiniti’s e-power technology, meant to allow drivers to enjoy the "benefits of an EV without having to worry about charging the battery.” Executives didn’t immediately explain what went wrong with the vehicle just before show time, only describing some of the luxurious details of the concept car. “The Infiniti QX Inspiration, like many stunning beauties, is a bit of a diva and decided to delay her debut. Another memorable NAIAS moment. That’s show business,” said Trevor Hale, head of global communications, in a statement. The vehicle made it to the stage at about 3 p.m. The QX Inspiration has a flat floor to “provide a wide open and natural way to enter or exit the vehicle,” said Karim Habib, executive design director. “(The) interior is designed as an open lounge area, inspired by mid-century modern architecture and Japanese minimalism,” Habib said. “Natural light has a huge impact of your perception of space. We designed a roof … that filters in the light elegantly.” Other features include the main cabin light “inspired by shades of spring,” marble details, a white dashboard, a horizontal and low, compact steering wheel to allow for a full view of the dashboard and a light path that “reached out and guides you to the comfort," Habib said.<doc-sep>
People attending the Detroit auto show wanted to get a glimpse into what an all-electric Infiniti luxury SUV will look like as Nissan's luxury brand attempted to unveil the QX Inspiration concept. Instead, Karim Habib, executive design director, Infiniti Motor Co., announced the concept would not be coming out on stage because of a technical problem at its reveal at the 2019 North American International Auto Show during media preview days Monday in Detroit. Infiniti Motor Co. then tweeted, "Coming soon." Sometimes product announcements don't go as planned. The concept car did exit a cordoned off, makeshift reveal room, but sputtered and stalled shortly after exiting it and didn't make it to the stage. The concept car did take the stage hours later. More on freep.com: 2019 North American International Auto Show: What you need to know Ram 1500, Hyundai Kona, Genesis G70 are North American vehicles of year With a battery below the floor and electric motors on all four wheels, the Inspiration's passenger cabin is moved forward for more "lounge-like" interior space. It has a low roof line sloping from front to back with small side windows. Infiniti wouldn't say how far the Inspiration can go on a single charge, but said it will offer "range confidence." No date for production has been set, and it's not certain whether the Inspiration will even be made. But Infiniti has said it plans to make only electric or gas-electric starting in 2021. More than 5,000 credentialed journalists from around the world are expected to attend the media preview. More than 750 vehicles are on display in Cobo Center in Detroit during the show with approximately 800,000 people expected to attend. The show is open to the public on Jan. 19-27. Contact Amy Huschka at ahuschka@freepress.com or follow on Twitter: @aetmanshuschka. The Associated Press and Getty Images contributed to this report.