Nissan electrified SUV to be shown as concept car this year
Nissan IDS concept, two thousand fifteen Tokyo Motor Showcase
The two thousand eighteen Nissan Leaf may be the brand’s next electrical vehicle to soak up attention, but several reports have indicated that Nissan plans to skin out its lineup with an electrified crossover.
That all-electric SUV will likely be previewed with a Vmotion Trio.0 concept, which will go after the Vmotion Two.0 sedan concept shown at this year’s Detroit auto demonstrate.
Vmotion is meant to capture three core poles of technology at Nissan, it says: electrification, autonomous driving, and connectivity.
The Vmotion Three.0 concept will, obviously, weigh intensely on that very first pillar—and may boast a 200-mile range.
“We are now working on Three.0 for the future direction,” Nissan’s executive design director, Mamoru Aoki, said to Automotive News (subscription required).
The fresh concept is said to take advantage of fresh styling opportunities merited by electrical motors and batteries and will be the blueprint for Nissan’s future electrical offerings.
Nissan Vmotion Two.0 concept, two thousand seventeen Detroit auto demonstrate
“Why not attempt something fresh?” Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan global design chief, said . “In the future, we’re not going to have just one EV. So we’re kicking off to map out what is the DNA that can go across different genres.”
Plane flooring, fresh aerodynamic shapes, and narrower, low-resistance tires are said to be potential experiments with Vmotion Three.0, according to Albaisa.
Nissan went on to call the crossover segment part of its DNA—the Japanese automaker has also adjusted its sales forecast to include sixty percent of its sales volume from the hot crossover and SUV segment in the U.S.
“We are clearly focusing our attention on a crossover EV, because it’s our DNA,” he said. “The crossover will truly embody the latest Nissan Intelligent Mobility features.”
Part of its DNA? More like part of a healthy profit margin.
The electrified crossover will go after the two thousand eighteen Leaf, which will debut this fall.
Teaser for two thousand eighteen Nissan Leaf debuting in 2017
The fresh Leaf will exhibit more pedestrian styling in an effort to budge it away from a “science experiment” look—the current Leaf is decidedly bug-eyed.
Nissan won’t be the only automaker to pursue electrical crossovers, tho’.
Kia and Hyundai will likely introduce fully electrical variants of their Stonic and Kona compact crossovers, respectively, in the near future as well.
At present, Chevrolet also markets the two thousand seventeen Bolt EV as a crossover, despite the fact that it doesn’t suggest all-wheel drive.
No matter the configuration, the Bolt EV has set the bar for affordable electrified cars with a 238-mile range.
Nissan and others will have their work cut out for them.