Should Nissan’s next GT-R be electric?

Nissan is investigating whether to make its next GT-R performance car flagship (colloqially known as the R36) fully electric or not, according to a fresh interview with the Japanese firm’s chief executive Makoto Uchida.

Speaking to Autocar UK, Uchida outlined that the brand is looking in a plug-in direction. He also acknowledged that, perhaps, the manufacturer’s upcoming Z sports car is more for the purist and the GT-R is more for those chasing ultimate performance. 

“We are looking at how we can do it electrified. It’s something that’s a really professional sports vehicle with no compromise. The Z is for someone like me who enjoys sports cars. The GT-R is a professional machine and we need to work it out for the future,” he said. 

The GT-R has long been linked to electrification, with speculation that the brand would draft hybrid technology in its supercar killer being rife in the industry for years. However, it’s yet to happen, even with Nissan continuing to incrementally update the model. 

Nissan’s last GT-R update was the T-Spec and Track Spec pairing revealed several months ago. Neither car featured any updates to the hallowed VR38DETT twin-turbo V6 under the bonnet, power and torque still rated at 421kW/633Nm. 

In the same interview, Nissan design chief Alfonso Albaisa teased that the GT-R wouldn’t be ‘doing a Corvette C8’ any time soon. Instead it would continue the current model’s big, brash design language. Don’t expect a mid-engined supercar transition any time soon, then. 

“It doesn’t care what every other supercar in the world is doing,” he added. “It simply says: ‘I’m a GT-R, I’m a brick, catch me.’ It’s the world’s fastest brick, really. And when I review sketches for the new car, I say that a lot: ‘Less wing, more brick.’”

It’s expected that the new model might lean on the well received limited edition GT-R50 by Italdesign for its visual inspiration.