Nissan commits to ‘affordable’ electric ute

Nissan is exploring a ‘light’ electric ute that could debut after 2030.

According to Automotive News [↗], as automakers from General Motors, Ford and Rivian launch electric pickups in North America, Nissan wants to compete, too.

The Japanese company – most famous in the EV space for the Nissan Leaf hatchback – is reportedly considering a full battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and even its E-Power series hybrid system for the electric ute.

As it has done with the platform-sharing X-Trail medium SUV, Nissan could also tap into its alliance with Mitsubishi and Renault.

2

Current Nissan Navara

Nissan dealer board chairman Tyler Slade said the automaker will aim to be in the ‘affordable’ US$40,000 (AU$63,000) range, rather than competing with the more premium Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck.

For now, Nissan’s global product strategy and planning head Ivan Espinosa said the company will prioritise introducing electric SUVs first, as hinted by its ‘Hyper’ concepts.

“We are looking at electrifying many segments… The key here is to read the customer requirements accurately and jump on the wave at the right moment,” said Espinosa.

“The good thing is we have this diversity of technical offerings to match with the customer requirements.”

Currently, Nissan’s electric offerings only include the Leaf hatch and Ariya SUV globally.

The electric ute challenge

As automakers look to electrify their ute offerings, key challenges remain.

Besides the marketing barrier to convince diesel ute buyers to make the switch, battery-electric utes simply can’t offer the same driving range (especially when loaded), payload and towing capabilities today due to large and heavy battery packs.

The Australian distributor of BYD electric cars, EVDirect, has even opted to sell a unique hybrid powertrain first when the BYD Ute lands by the end of 2024, followed by an all-electric battery-powered version about a year later.

“We want vehicles that Australians can actually afford,” EVDirect chief executive Luke Todd previously told 4x4 Australia.

“The reality is a full EV ute at the moment would be over $100,000 just of the battery size, to power, to get enough range.”

For context, the only new electric ute on sale in Australia is the two-wheel-driven LDV eT60.

It is priced from $92,990 before on-road costs with up to 330 kilometres claimed WLTP range, 1000kg maximum payload with a 100kg towball download, and 1000kg braked towing capacity.