Nissan has just made a physical version of one of the coolest concept cars the company has ever done. What was once just a digital rendering now exists in the metal. Does that mean the company is thinking about building the Nissan Max-Out electric roadster? We sure hope it does.
We first saw the Max-Out concept in November 2021, when Nissan made its biggest-ever EV announcement to spend around $20 billion to develop 15 new EVs by 2030. In doing that, the brand would make its model mix more than 50 per cent EVs around the world between Nissan and Infiniti.
The Max-Out was one of three electric concept cars revealed as part of the presentation, along with the Hang-Out crossover and the Surf-Out pickup. Frankly, we had pegged the Surf-Out as being the most likely to advance into a production model, mainly because pickup trucks are immensely popular in our market and sports cars aren't.
The Max-Out, however, has debuted as a "physical concept model" (Nissan's name for it) at Nissan Futures, a month-long event with interactive experiences for customers, panel discussions with EV and mobility experts, and other displays of the company's innovations.
The Max-Out, Nissan says, is "designed to provide a liberating sense of openness while offering an enhanced, dynamic driving experience." The electric roadster is "created on the fundamental concept of being one with the car."
When the initial concept car debuted in 2021, Nissan talked about dynamic cornering, "superlative stability," and limited body roll with high levels of comfort. In other words, it was a sports car.
Officially, a concept car like this "displays Nissan's innovation to develop a diverse range of advanced and striking vehicles, with a clear vision of how they can benefit both individuals and society."
We hope it means that Nissan wants to build a production small electric sports car and that this might preview what one could look like.
