A new electric crossover SUV, similar to Nissan’s Rogue Sport, will roll out in the US. The Nissan Rogue-like electric SUV will be the company’s fifth EV to be built at its Canton, Miss plant. Meanwhile, Nissan is delaying EV production (again) after putting a $500 million investment on hold.

EV production in Canton is delayed again

Nissan is pushing back EV production in Canton for the second time this year. After delaying plans to begin building electric cars at the facility in January, Nissan is at it again.

Production of two Nissan electric sedans was scheduled to start in June 2026. However, Nissan pushed the date back until November 2026, citing “the need to enhance product competitiveness,” a note to suppliers read.

According to a new memo viewed by Automotive News, Nissan asked suppliers to “stop all development activities related to [the EV sedan] project until further notice.

Nissan did not provide a new start date but said suppliers can expect an update in mid-June. “I think it’s going to be at least six or eight months before [Nissan] returns with a new plan,” one of the suppliers said.

“What matters is making sure that we launch the vehicles that the customer wants, at the time the customer wants it,” Nissan America chairperson Jérémie Papin explained.

A new Nissan Rogue-like electric SUV is coming

In a separate note, Nissan unveiled plans to introduce a Rogue-like electric SUV. According to GlobalData, the new EV, codenamed PZ1L, will be similar in size to the Nissan Rogue Sport.

It will be the fifth EV made in Canton. The automaker’s production plans include a pair of new electric sedans, one Nissan brand (codenamed LZ1F), and an Infiniti model (LZ1E). Nissan’s LZ1F was scheduled for production in Nov 2026, with the LZ1F following in April 2027.

Nissan will need to act quickly with suppliers asking for answers. Papin said Nissan will provide “clarity” on EV production “fairly soon.”

In the meantime, Nissan’s output at the plant is dwindling. The Canton facility was built to support over 410,000 vehicles annually, but Nissan cut its capacity to around 270,000 at the start of the decade.

Nissan Titan production is set to end this summer, while Altima production has been extended through late 2025.

Electrek’s Take

With Nissan’s footprint in the US shrinking, the automaker will need to shake things up. Although sales are up 7% in the US through March 2024, Nissan’s market share has fallen in recent years.

Nissan had an 11% share of new car sales in the US in 2018, but that number fell to around 5.8% last year.

Although Nissan’s decade-old LEAF is falling out of favor (sales are down +50% this year), its second EV in the US, the Ariya, is picking up the slack. Nissan Ariya sales are up 45% through the first three months of 2024, with 4,142 units sold.

Nissan’s LEAF and Ariya are already two of the most affordable EVs on the market, but the competition is intensifying.

With Altima sales slipping (-13 % through March), Nissan may want to speed up its timeline rather than delay it again.

Production at Canton is expected to be around 204,500 in the fiscal year ending March 21, 2025. With EV production not scheduled to begin until late 2026 (at the earliest), how does Nissan plan to keep up?

We will learn more about Nissan’s EV production plans soon with more updates expected to come in the next few months.

Would you buy a new Nissan Rogue-like electric SUV? By 2027, it will need to stand out, as plenty of rivals will launch similar-sized EVs.

As Japan looks to make all new passenger vehicle sales 100% electric by 2035, local companies are pulling demand levers to help expedite the process. One of those companies is ENECHANGE, which has just introduced a new unlimited flat-rate EV charging subscription that will be available to drivers throughout Japan.

While the Japanese government has ambitious goals for electrification over the next decade, EV adoption in the region still lags behind much of the rest of the world. Local automakers like Toyota are still hellbent on selling hybrids well into 2030 and beyond.

As a result, the current sales ratio of new EV and PHEV sales sits below 4% in Japan. A huge inhibitor to adoption is the residential circumstances of Japanese drivers, many of which live in larger multi-dwelling units without home access to EV charging.

To combat this, companies have bolstered public charging piles in Japan, including ENECHANGE Ltd., which has been developing charging infrastructure in the country for the past three years. To help the government of Japan reach its 2035 target and entice more local drivers to go all-electric, ENECHANGE has introduced a new flat-rate subscription that will offer unlimited charging sessions at certain times a day.

ENECHANGE to offer flat rate unlimited charging in Japan

The charging provider recently shared details of its new flat-rate unlimited charging subscription, “ENECHANGE Passport,” to recruit 100,000 subscribers in Japan as quickly as possible. ENECHANGE provided data studies detailing why EV adoption has lagged in Japan due to a lack of residential piles and how unlimited public charging can help:

According to a survey conducted by ENECHANGE in March 2024, 85% of EV/PHEV drivers living in multi-dwelling units (owned and rented) responded that they do not have charging facilities at home.

According to the survey, the top eight prefectures with a high percentage of respondents without access to home charging are those with a high proportion of multi-family housing such as condominiums and apartments in the total number of residences. It has become clear that the difficulty of installing charging ports in multi-family housing, especially in urban areas, has led to delays in development.

The new service costs 2,980 JPY ($19.08) per month, enabling EV and PHEV drivers in Japan to access over 1,800 Level 2 chargers without limits during designated hours. Charging will be billed at a fixed rate during daytime sessions when solar power generation increases and more surplus electricity is available.

Usage hours for unlimited flat-rate charging around Japan are 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. If a driver charges outside those designated hours, the rate jumps to 55 JPY ($0.35) per 10 minutes.

ENECHANGE says its Level 2 charging ports are being installed at destinations like commercial and leisure facilities, where drivers can charge while they visit. While its piles only offer 6kW charge rates, the company points out that charging for 10 hours over the span of 30 days is still more cost-effective than paying 3,300 JPY ($21) for a single session using the ENECHANGE EV Charge app… As long as you’re not in a rush.

Unlimited charging via ENECHANGE Passport will start in Japan on June 3, 2024.

Few people are aware they can buy green energy

How consumers can buy green power

How renewable energy certificates (RECs) work

A solar farm in Imperial, California, on December 6, 2023. 

Valerie Macon | Afp | Getty Images

Just because a consumer opts for renewable power doesn’t mean the electricity being pumped into their home is coming from those renewable sources.

This may sound strange. But it’s due to the physical nature of electricity and its movement through the shared electric grid.

“Once the electrons have been injected into the grid, there’s no way of tagging that these are ‘green’ electrons and these are not green,” said Joydeep Mitra, head of the power system program at Michigan State University. “Nobody knows which electrons are going where.”

Green energy programs instead rely on “renewable energy certificates,” or RECs.

The certificates are essentially an accounting mechanism for the generation and purchase of renewable energy, Mitra said.

You may not be getting the green power — but someone, somewhere is. And RECs keep track of it all.

Any consumer — even one who doesn’t have access to a green power program through their utility — can also purchase a REC as a separate, stand-alone product. It’s a way to provide extra funding to a renewable energy project, typically sold by a broker or marketer rather than a utility, Sumner said.

Buying these certificates separately doesn’t impact a consumer’s existing utility service relationship.

How to verify your electricity is green