Nissan LCV to get an EV and hybrid engine soon

MANILA: Nissan has been at the forefront of developing EVs and hybrid vehicles as it pursues electrification as the path for where the automobile industry is heading to right now. The full-electric Nissan LEAF e+ test car showcased at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show is a testament of that direction. However, despite the car concepts and the LEAF e+, there is a void of EVs and hybrids on the company’s more popular lineup of light commercial vehicles (LCVs), namely the Navara, Terra, NV350, and Patrol.

Nissan’s global head of Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), Francois Bailly, at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, assured the motoring media and car enthusiasts that Nissan is currently developing a way to bring electrification to their global LCV lineup, stating that the company is “looking at different technologies from full EV to plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and so-on. But we have not decided which technology we pick.” He further cites the e-NV200 small van sold in Spain and the Dongfeng Rich 6 EV electric pickup truck sold in China as Nissan’s initial offering of full-electric LCVs for specific markets.

Another issue that needs to be resolved in electrifying Nissan’s LCV line-up is the capabilities of EVs and Hybrids to be on par with the standard internal combustion versions. Add to that, he also emphasized the importance of studying the local markets on which Nissan operates. “It is really critical what we learn from different markets. Especially with pick-up trucks, we don’t believe the customers will tolerate any compromise in terms of towing, payload, range. We must supply the same capabilities as (an internal-combustion engine version)” Bailly said.

No timeline and details on which models will get electrified have been disclosed, but he did assure us that “electrification is the future, but how it will manifest we haven’t yet decided. This is where we are going as an industry.”

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