Infiniti today confirmed that its first production hybrid vehicle willbe part of the recently announced line of 2011 Infiniti M luxuryperformance sedans, which are scheduled to go on sale in spring 2010 atInfiniti dealers nationwide. The Infiniti M35 hybrid is expected toarrive about 12 months later as a 2012 model. It is Infiniti’s firsthybrid in its 20-year existence, as well as the cleanest and mosteconomical car in Infiniti’s history.

Realizing the high performance/low emissions promise of the recentInfiniti Essence concept car, the M35 Hybrid has been designed andengineered to add to, not take away from, the driving experience, a keypart of any Infiniti’s appeal. The M35 Hybrid is based on the all-newM, which itself picks up styling cues from Essence, the show-stopperthat made its debut at the Geneva Auto Show early in 2009.

The M35 Hybrid maintains a high performance luxury sedan profile,overlaying it with the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of a smaller car,while delivering driving flair to please any enthusiast – complete withcharismatic V6 and rear-wheel drive handling.

Infiniti’s hybrid system, developed solely within Infiniti’s parentgroup, is a single electric motor/twin clutch arrangement.Innovatively, the first clutch is installed between the naturallyaspirated 3.5-liter V6 and the electric motor. The result of thisconfiguration, where all components act on a single prop shaft to therear differential, is a consistent driving feel under all conditionswith linear performance and the “direct responses” that the engineerssought.

The electric motor acts as both propulsion unit, boosting the V6 in“power assist” mode when maximum acceleration is required, and also asa generator. Along with charging the battery in the normal way, themotor recovers energy otherwise lost during deceleration and braking.

The M Hybrid can also run solely on its electric motor in certaindriving conditions, furthering fuel efficiency and optimizing energyusage across the widest possible range of driving conditions. Detailsof driving range, performance and transmission will be released later.

As expected of Infiniti, several new technologies are introduced in thenew M35 Hybrid, including a “laminated” lithium-ion (Li-ion) batterypack that is the same size as conventional batteries but offers twicethe power. Lamination enhances the pack’s cooling performance, whiletemperature stability is further improved by the use of manganesepositive electrodes. An end result of this is exceptional batteryreliability.

The M35 Hybrid joins conventional engine-equipped 2011 M versions –including a new high-performance diesel V6 for Western Europe – as thefirst Ms to be sold across all of Infiniti’s world markets, currently33 countries. All of the new-generation Infiniti M models are on targetto beat their predecessors on fuel consumption and emissions – despiteacross-the-board performance improvements – thanks to a range ofefficiency-enhancing measures.