Currently reading: Nissan Juke and Qashqai crossovers could go electric
Nissan's Gareth Dunsmore thinks it's only a matter of time before Nissan's range is electrified; this means future generations of today's models will ditch combustion power

Nissan's future models are set to be able to accommodate pure electric powertrains, opening up the possibility of all-electric versions of the likes of the Nissan Juke and Nissan Qashqai.

“We’re leaders in crossovers and a leader with Leaf and we will combine those two in the future,” said Gareth Dunsmore, director of the Nissan’s zero-emission business unit.

2017 Nissan Qashqai facelift revealed

At present, Nissan’s electric models are built on dedicated EV platforms. Dunsmore said this would always be the preferable option, but the “next step is a platform fit for EVs from day one”. These platforms would also be engineered to take internal combustion engines and other drivetrain technology.

Dunsmore added: “I hope EV stands up within that [platform] and people see it as environmentally friendly, fun and cost-efficient.” 

He also hinted that Nissan was investigating the launch of smaller electric vehicles. “We have a range of options; some people want smaller vehicles and we’ll look at that.”

Last year Autocar revealed that Nissan was working on developing a family of Nissan Leaf-branded electric vehicles, of which this smaller model could be a part.

Read more: Next-gen Nissan Leaf aiming for 340-mile range 

Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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fadyady 20 June 2016

I blame Tesla

Since I joined Autocar a few years ago I have been saying that hybrid is the way forward. I may be wrong. I blame Tesla. Its excellence is luring all car makers into believing that they can skip hybridization and go straight to electric powertrain. It's not as simple as that. As more car makers enter this foray they would realize that making EVs as sensationally good as Tesla - at that price - is not easy as issuing a press release.
Hint, hint, Volkswagen! How is it going to make and sell 3 million electric cars a year by 2025 - confounds me - although the Autocar dutifully copy-pasted the press release a few days ago.
TegTypeR 20 June 2016

Makes complete sense

It certainly makes complete sense. The SUV market is the place to be for a manufacturer of any motively powered vehicle at the moment, so someone with Nissan's EV tech would be foolish not to capitalise on that.

The question remains though, can they increase the range and reduce the charging time enough on all of their next gen EV's to make it a realistic option for more drivers.

Personally though I would like to see them produced as plug in hybrids in the same was as Mitsubishi's Outlander, which outsells the Leaf buy some margin in the UK. It would make a lot more sense to a lot more people that way.

xxxx 20 June 2016

Leaf success

Shame there's not a few more details, especially regarding the next gen Leaf (the link doesn't work Mr Autocar). I could see a small Electric SUV style being a big seller if they could keep the price to round-about that of a Leaf.