The Gas/ Electric Hybrid Essence concept made jaws drop at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Essence concept was created as a celebration vehicle of Infiniti’s 20 year anniversary as a creator of performance cars.
The Essence was designed with dramatic design, technology and performance and ultimately becoming a 600 HP petro-V-electric hybrid coupe with rear wheel drive and seating for two. It was displayed at Goodwood’s FoS-TECH pavilion and just recently at the fun filled Goodwood Hillclimb Festival, where it was shown and driven in public for the first time. Joining the other vehicles at the festival was particularly momentous for the engineers who will share in driving the new Infiniti.
The vehicle is built around a front engine RWD chassis and stretches 4.7m in length. Although the Essence is the most striking car seen from the Infiniti brand yet, the drive train is where the concept really shines. It features a direct injection twin-turbocharged 3.7Liter V-6 engine that collaborates with a new electric motor called the 3D Motor and produces 592 horsepower. The electric motor was designed to meet tough requirements on size and power output and can run independently as well as parallel to the gas 
engine, which is unique to the hybrid system. The result of this new electric motor is a slim, disc shaped motor that has twice the torque of a conventional unit. The design of the electric 3D motor alone was achieved by 3D magnetic field analysis used to optimize the layout of the electro-magnetic coils and permanent magnets. This motor is located between the engine and the transmission and draws its power from a compact lithium ion battery pack in the boot area. Optimized energy usage across a large range of driving conditions is guaranteed by two separate clutches. The clutches rotate the motors as required and provide a system that needs no torque converter.
As a result of this new technology, the Essence is extremely responsive in performance and emits no emissions at low speeds. While we’re more than a little disappointed that the Essence will never hit production, if the concept’s handsome design makes its way into other Infiniti vehicles; it’d be a good start.
