What It Is
The calendar year 2024 marks the end of the line (at least in the U.S.) for Nissan’s long-in-the-tooth GT-R supercar. So, what’s next for Godzilla? Nissan won’t say, but in the meantime, it’s been dropping a bento box full of clues. One thing we’re all but certain about, however, is that the next GT-R will be electrified.
Why It Matters
Nissan has participated in Formula E for years, and its engineers aren’t there just to collect stickers for their laptops. While the learnings gained from its e-racing efforts will no doubt benefit all of Nissan’s coming electric vehicles (EVs), the high-performance angle of Formula E is most closely aligned with the mission of a supercar like the GT-R. It also stands to reason that any electric-powered GT-R needs to have the range, endurance, and (relatively) low weight to drive to the track as well as on the track.
Moreover, because the GT-R has traditionally been a rolling showcase for Nissan’s cutting-edge technology, it’s likely it will draw its power from solid-state batteries, which the company is developing and hopes to introduce in street vehicles by 2028.
How can we be so sure about Godzilla’s electrification? Nissan has claimed it is no longer working on any all-new internal combustion engines, and like the GT-R itself, its existing VR-series twin-turbo V-6 is also at the end of its line. We can’t completely rule out the possibility of hybrid technology; however, we get the feeling that ship has sailed out of Tokyo Bay. Hybrids aren’t exactly cutting-edge tech, nor is the existing V-6. Several Nissan execs outlined that some time will elapse between the end of the present GT-R’s run and the next car, indicating that the all-new GT-R will be battery-powered.
Platform and Powertrain
What might an electric GT-R look like? Late last year, Nissan showed a concept called Hyper Force, an angular supercar with a distinctly GT-R-like profile and a 1,000-kW (1,341-hp) electric drivetrain fed by a solid-state battery pack. Its taillights are a stylized interpretation of those found on the present car, and the pixelated logo on its nose is definitely a blurred-out GT-R badge. Hints don’t get much more obvious, but Nissan stressed this was only an idea of what a future GT-R could be.
The styling may change some, and the platform it will be underpinned by is unclear at this point, but we think the GT-R will follow this general formula. How long will we have to wait? We probably won’t see a fully electrified Godzilla until the end of the 2020s at the earliest. Yes, the Japanese monster will take some time to gestate before its next seismic emergence.
Estimated Price: $180,000
Expected On-Sale Date: 2029
