Nissan is announcing a significant series of investments and plans for electrification, many of which have long been rumored but are now clearly defined. In summary, it has designed two new CUVs and an all-new version of the Leaf, all three of which will be produced at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, UK. In addition to these plans, Nissan will also add another gigafactory in Sunderland to enable production.
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Today's news was originally reported earlier in the week before the official announcement, but Nissan made things official today. Here's the key information.
- An electric version of the Qashqai (advertised as the Rogue Sport in the US).
- An electric version of the Juke (the Juke was discontinued in the US in 2018, but remains for sale worldwide).
- A “replacement” for the Nissan Leaf electric car.
- These three electric vehicles will be based on the Hyper Urban, Hyper Punk and Chill Out.
- A third planned gigafactory in Sunderland will be part of Nissan's "EV36Zero" manufacturing plan, to build electric vehicles.
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It looks like the new Leaf will be based on the Nissan “Chill Out” concept. Secondly, it looks like Nissan will be investing heavily in its electric crossover lineup. Not only will there be an electric Qashqai and an electric Juke (along with a potential Leaf replacement with crossover features), but it looks like the Leaf itself will become a CUV.
The Hyper Urban is the largest member of the family, so that's where you'll see the Qashqai EV drawing inspiration. The Hyper Punk is a compact crossover, and that looks to be the Juke's counterpart. As for the even smaller Chill Out, we've established that that will be the starting point for the new Leaf.
See also: Nissan Leaf: Urgent notice for recall of 1700 vehicles
Nissan seems to be more committed to electrification, and has reiterated its plan to have a 100% electric portfolio on sale in Europe by 2030. It likely intends to continue selling internal combustion vehicles globally. Right now, the only competitive electric vehicle the brand offers is the surprisingly popular Ariya, a car that confirms Nissan's continued presence at the forefront of design – and gives hope that these future electric vehicles will have their own distinct style.
Source: electrek
