What's all this about?
Oh, nothing much. Just a telepathic crossover, is all.
I'm sorry, a what now?
A Japanese crossover which can read your mind. It's perfectly simple.
It most certainly is not! Whatever are you blathering on about?!
Last year, at the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan showed off an edgy little crossover concept called the IMx. It had more torque than an R35 GT-R with 700Nm, kicked out 320kW (425hp) from its twin electric motors, boasted ProPilot self-driving tech (which meant the steering wheel folded into the dashboard and all the seats reclined when the onboard AI was in control of the car), boasted an interior dripping in the latest OLED displays/lighting and had a theoretical maximum zero-emissions range of more than 375 miles. Nifty.
Yes, quite. But you haven't answered my question on the mind-reading bit, have you?
Hold your horses. So, now making its debut in Europe at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, all of the above still holds true. And visually, much has happened to make the IMx blacker. That's because it is now called the IMx Kuro, this latter word being the Japanese for, yes, black. So the trim and wheels are black, the body is now dark grey instead of Pearl White, and there's a bit of a design tweak to the Nissan's nose. However, the Geneva Kuro also has Brain-to-Vehicle (B2V) technology.
And this is the freaky bit, right?
Well, yes. And we're not just talking about the headgear you'd have to wear to make B2V work. What the Nissan can now do is interpret brain signals and either react to them or - better still - become proactive for you. So say you're thinking about making a turn or accelerating a little harder; the B2V reads those impulses and starts the process before you've even got your muscles and nerves in action. It means the car is acting 0.2 to 0.5 seconds quicker to, for instance, turn the steering wheel, thus improving its overall responses. And if you're feeling a little bit low or uncomfortable, then it will adapt the driving configuration/self-driving style to suit. Now isn't that all very clever?
It's a little bit invasive and scary, if you ask me. What does Nissan say about the IMx Kuro?
"The IMx Kuro zero-emission crossover concept vehicle embodies the future of Nissan Intelligent Mobility," said Jose Munoz, Nissan's chief performance officer. "Nissan Intelligent Mobility is Nissan's commitment to changing the way people and cars communicate, as well as how cars interact with society in the near future and beyond."
OK, what else did Nissan have on its Geneva stand?
The concept race car livery for its forthcoming debut season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. An announcement about its new strategic partnership with energy company E.ON, in order to explore 'opportunities on pilot activities and commercial offers related to vehicle-to-grid services, renewable energy generation and storage solutions, as well as grid integration for Nissan electric vehicle customers'. And the confirmation that some of its best-selling crossovers - we're talking the Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail - will be offered with electrified drivetrains in the very near future.
Really?
Yes. You can thank the all-conquering Leaf Mk2 for Nissan's Intelligent Mobility drive to electric cars; the all-new EV hatchback has already secured a whopping 19,000 orders in Europe alone, proving that customers are enamoured with its zero-emission charms.
Matt Robinson - 6 Mar 2018