Nissan BladeGlider Concept Puts Driver Front and Center

The Tokyo Motor Show is host to more than its share of unusual concept vehicles and one of the most intriguing has got to be Nissan BladeGlider.

This vehicle is an all-electric design study borrowing powertrain components and engineering know-how for the company’s all-electric Leaf as well as the phallus-shaped Zero Emission on Demand Racing Car. As you’d expect, it’s powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.

Not surprisingly this thing is built atop a unique architecture that supposedly gives the driver and up to two passengers “sustainable exhilaration,” thought I think what they meant to say is that it’s fun to drive an efficient. Hinting at entertaining dynamics power is sent to the BladeGlider’s rear wheels.

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But this vehicle’s signature feature is its narrow front track, which is only 1 meter wide and dramatically less than the rear. Keeping mass in check the body is constructed of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic while its overall shape was supposedly inspired by a swept-wing aircraft.

Unlike other cars the driver sits front and center while the passengers ride behind. This supposedly gives the BladeGlider’s captain with an unobstructed view as well as a quote “free-soaring experience.”

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Now, according to Nissan this vehicle targets “visionary individuals” and they claim that it’s more than just a concept. What could that mean? Well, it’s hard to believe a vehicle shaped like this could ever meet safety standards but some of its underlying technology is almost certainly more production viable.