Cutting edge: Nissan's vision for an electric sports car

We all know a sports car when we see one. There’s shared design DNA between most of the fast two-seaters on the road: a scrap of Jaguar E-type here; a bit of Porsche 911 there; a dash of Ferrari Enzo for seasoning. So when a concept appears that comprehensively scraps that design heritage it does tend to attract attention, especially when it’s put forward by one of the largest and most commercially successful automotive companies in the world.

The Nissan BladeGlider, which made its debut in concept-car form at the Tokyo Motor Show last November, is radically different from any car on the road. This in itself isn’t unusual for concept cars: they’re a chance for the automotive industry’s design engineers to indulge their imaginations and present a vision of the future. But Nissan is serious about the BladeGlider. Product planning chief Andy Palmer has said that the company is intending to put the car into full production in the next five years.