Nissan is in the early stages of developing an electric city car for Europe, twinned with the upcoming Renault Twingo EV.
The Japanese firm has begun talks with Alliance partner Renault’s Ampere EV division about the development of an ‘A-segment’ EV based on the Ampr Small platform that underpins the forthcoming Twingo (as well as the larger Renault 4 and 5).
In a televised address to media at Ampere’s ElectriCity production hub in northern France, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida revealed that the company has plans to re-enter the European city car segment for the first time in more than a decade, using underpinnings supplied by its French partner.
Nissan is already poised to reveal an electric successor to the Micra supermini on the Ampr Small platform. This is “on track” for launch in 2025, said Uchida, adding that he wants to maintain “the positive momentum” of the two firms’ technical collaboration with a second model.
He offered no details as to what this new model might look like, when it could arrive or how much it might cost but emphasised that a key reason for collaborating with Ampere is the reduced development costs and timelines that come from using a pre-developed platform.
“Through this partnership, we aim to optimise our European market coverage. With Ampere, we are targeting a very short development time, which means that we can deliver this new vehicle at the best time for the market.”
Speed is already a core tenet of Ampere’s development programmes: it took the Twingo from conception to sign-off in just nine weeks and aims to have it in production within just two years from that point, in a bid to match the fast-paced development cycles of Chinese competitors.
Renault has already committed to bringing the Twingo to market for less than £17,000 (although a UK launch remains unconfirmed), with a cruising efficiency of 6.2mpkWh and 75% fewer carbon emissions over its lifecycle than today’s city cars.
Uchida said: “We are aiming for a smart car for the drivers of tomorrow that will be good for customers, for us and for Ampere.
"This car will deliver the convenience and advanced functionality that customers experience but in a small size and at an attractive and affordable price.”
He acknowledged that the talks are at an early stage but said the move “does represent an expansion of our co-operation in different vehicle segments" and "shows the strengths of our alliance and our shared desire innovate for customers”.
Nissan hasn't sold a car below the Micra in Europe since axing the Pixo more than a decade ago and in the intervening years has ramped up its focus on crossovers and EVs.
Next year, it will relaunch the Leaf as a crossover, and by the end of the decade it will offer electric alternatives to the big-selling Juke and Qashqai - all three cars built in Sunderland.
