UPDATE: A few photos of the ESFLOW have leaked out ahead of the car’s debut. See them here.
Yeah, we don’t know how to say ESFLOW either. While the name conjures up a Pearl Jam song or a brand of catheters more than anything automotive, look past those things, and you’ll find a concept that has cleverly reconfigured the insides of a Nissan Leaf for fun instead of efficient people-carrying. The ESFLOW makes its debut at the 2011 Geneva show.
The front-wheel-drive Leaf donates its lithium-ion battery packs and control electronics to this two-seater. Unlike the Leaf, however, the ESFLOW uses the electricity to power the other end of the car, and there are two motors—one for each wheel—instead of one. This gives the concept digital torque-vectoring ability. Range is quoted at a minimum of 150 miles, and the car is theoretically capable of a 0-to-60-mph run in less than five seconds. That’s close to 370Z territory.
The ESFLOW’s bespoke aluminum chassis is topped by a cab-rearward composite body; it’s striking, futuristic, and familiar all at once. Whereas the Leaf is somewhat of an amorphous blob designed with efficiency and packaging in mind, the ESFLOW has a purposeful look that hides its EV identity. Nissan adds blue accents everywhere, as on the Leaf, to subtly remind us of the car’s tanklessness, but the charging port, a front-and-center wart on the Leaf’s hood, is hidden below the ESFLOW’s headlights. The design manages to incorporate styling cues from Z cars old and new, although we’d like to see a little more of the original Datsun 240Z in it, especially up front.
The wraparound windshield is made possible by an internal roll cage behind the seats that makes traditional, load-bearing A-pillars unnecessary. The result looks cool, but a tad unoriginal; we can’t help but be reminded of recent Saab concepts when looking at the ESFLOW. The car’s seats are carved into the bulkhead, and therefore not adjustable. To make up for that, the controls move to the driver. It’s a neat idea, but doesn’t account for people of differing heights, since there’s no vertical seat-bottom adjustment. Also, Nissan claims to have made the switch from heavy, motorized seats to this static arrangement to save weight, but seems to have put at least some of that weight right back in by motorizing the pedals and steering wheel. We again remind ourselves that this is a concept.
The ESFLOW isn’t hitting showrooms any time soon, if ever, but it does show that Nissan is at least thinking fun-to-drive when considering its electrification plans. Leaf is easy to pronounce and all, but so is Z.
