Infiniti has released details on its new model year M35h hybrid that will roll out across Europe in the forthcoming weeks. There are no styling or equipment changes to the 2012 M35h as Infiniti focused on improving the hybrid model’s fuel efficiency and CO2 emission figures.
To do so, the Japanese brand’s engineers made key enhancements to electric motor accuracy and battery charging, which allow the M35h to rely more on electric power when starting off from cold.
As a result, CO2 emissions drop from 162g/km to 159g/km. This may not sound a lot, but in certain markets such as the UK, there are many advantages as the 2012 M35h qualifies for the higher rate of Write Down Allowance (WDA), allowing companies to claim 20 percent of the car’s cost as capital expenditure per year, instead of 10 percent before.
Furthermore, the M35h drops one tax band for drivers, from 23 to 22 percent for 2012/13, saving a 40% taxpayer around £180 a year.
The 2012 M35h also benefits from a lower fuel consumption as the combined figure for the hybrid model drops from 7.0 to 6.9 lt/100km (0.5mpg to 40.9mpg UK), highway consumption reduces from 5.7 to 5.6 lt/100km (50.5mpg UK), and on the urban cycle it’s 0.2lt/100km more economical at 9.0 lt/100km (31.4mpg UK).
The M35h’ V6 hybrid powertrain continues to produce a combined output of 359bhp (364PS) allowing for a 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 5.5 seconds.
In the UK, the 2012 M35h is priced at £46,840, or £1180 more than the 238HP M30d diesel.
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