Report: Nissan GT-R Will Return With Hybrid Powertrain

Nissan has confirmed that the next generation of the GT-R is forthcoming and will utilize a hybrid drivetrain. It will also go on sale sometime between 2028 and 2030.

Details come from the same interview between The Drive and Nissan’s Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer for North America, Ponz Pandikuthira, that yielded details about the improved range on the Leaf. According to the discussion, Nissan does not feel that the R36 would benefit from being an EV.

While the automaker had confirmed that a successor to the R35 was in development roughly a year ago, details on the vehicle have been sparse. The company dropped numerous hints that the model would be electrified to some extent, without stating anything too definitive about the powertrain. But as time went on, it started to seem more plausible that it would be an all-electric vehicle.

That is no longer the case. While VP Pandikuthira confirmed that Nissan had indeed built electric prototypes of the GT-R, the company ultimately decided against running with the idea.

“...basically it’s like it would complete one lap at the Nürburgring, and then you have to recharge the car,” he told The Drive. “And then that charging is going to take you a while, and it’s just not authentic.”

“You just built a thing to check that box that you have a GT-R, but it’s not really a GT-R,” Pandikuthira continued. “No, electric, I don’t think you’ll deliver with the technology that we have now, or even with solid state, the kind of performance that’s expected out of a GT-R.”

The final blow was apparently realizing that an all-electric car wouldn’t be competitive in motorsport due to the fact it wouldn’t be able to last more than a couple laps on most racetracks before depleting the battery. This is particularly important for something like the GT-R, which has a legacy of punching well above its price tag and being quite dominant on the track. So much so that the car was nicknamed “Godzilla” in the media.

There are plenty of unanswered questions about the R36, however. Nissan says it doesn’t yet know for certain if it will be a plug-in hybrid or not. Pandikuthira said that would likely hinge on charging technologies and whether or not solid-state battery tech would migrate to automobiles before development on the next GT-R wrapped up. But it sounds like the company is leaning away from a PHEV due to the added weight and possible performance restrictions.

“Think about a plug-in hybrid (with today’s technology) and you do two or three laps of the Nürburgring and you’re running out of juice. Then that car is not really working [at full power],” Pandikuthira explained.

It feels like Nissan is probably doing the right thing here. While there are enthusiasts that appreciate all-electric vehicles, the core demographic seems pretty lukewarm on them. Many drivers who like to work on their own vehicles or want to feel connected to the driving experience aren’t sold on EVs. But we don’t need to psychoanalyze consumer demographics to presume that a fully electric GT-R would be a big risk for Nissan.

We’ve seen more than a few lifestyle or performance vehicles being reimagined as EVs that just aren’t selling (e.g. the Dodge Charger Daytona and GMC Hummer EV). Some of that is due to their extravagant pricing. But even sizable markdowns haven’t been sufficient to help them find buyers. Subaru has likewise suggested that the next-gen WRX STI would be electrified to help meet emissions, yielding some very mixed opinions from the fan base.

Furthermore, the Nissan GT-R exists somewhere in-between being a hardcore sports car and a comfortable grand tourer. Making it wholly reliant on a battery pack could seriously muddy those waters. While EVs tend to make for comfy cruisers, they’re typically quite heavy and lack the kind of range that would allow someone to cruise through several states in a single afternoon or drive themselves home after a track day. Owners would simply be spending too much time charging the vehicle.

Nissan’s current management team seems to understand that.

“If I was given an ideal [situation], I’d like a GT-R that I could drive for say 70 miles or so on all-electric range, putzing around town,” Pandikuthira stated, creating a hypothetical scenario where the next car would be a plug-in hybrid.

“The whole point of the GT-R is [that] this isn’t a car that you drive only on special occasions. You want to drive your kids to school, you go to the grocery store, whatever your local driving, you actually got an EV.”

But that might not be feasible without a major leap forward in battery technology or compromising the vehicle’s track performance — the latter of which Nissan said was not acceptable. This has to be an all-star vehicle for Nissan and it likewise needs to be able to embarrass the competition.

"Number one, it has to be a very authentic car," Pandikuthira told Motor1 in a separate interview. "Imagine if you did a front-wheel drive electric car and called it a GT-R. Good luck, right? It needs to be authentic to its roots, and it needs to have a Nürburgring performance record."

"That's what established the car's cred," he added, "that it beat a Porsche 911 on its home turf. That needs to hold good."

Standard hybridization makes for a decent compromise. Toyota’s Prius was marketed as “the car of the 21st century” and showcased just how efficient the recipe could be. Meanwhile, the Porsche 918 Spyder proved that hybrid powertrains can offer some staggering performance advantages — setting current the trend for hypercars roughly a decade ago.

That said, there may be an opportunity for your author to eat some crow by the end of this year. The Chevrolet Corvette, which exists in the same automotive niche as the Nissan, is supposed to be released before 2025. If that model turns out to be a hit with enthusiasts, perhaps an all-electric GT-R could have worked after all.

[Images: Nissan]

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