Nissan confirms 3 new EVs and its next gigafactory location
Nissan is announcing a major series of investments and plans for electrification today, many of which have been long rumored but are now being concretely defined. In summary, plan on two new CUVs and a brand-new version of the Leaf, all three of which will be produced in the UK at Nissan’s Sunderland plant. In support of those plans, Nissan will also be adding another gigafactory at Sunderland to enable production.
Today’s news was originally reported earlier in the week prior to the official announcement, but Nissan has made things official today. The bullet points follow.
- An EV version of the Qashqai (marketed as Rogue Sport in the US)
- An EV version of the Juke (the Juke was discontinued in the US in 2018, but is still sold globally)
- A “replacement” for the Nissan Leaf EV
- These three EVs will be based on the Hyper Urban, Hyper Punk, and Chill Out concepts, respectively.
- A third planned gigafactory at Sunderland as part of Nissan’s “EV36Zero” manufacturing plan
A few things stand out here. First, it does appear that the Nissan “Chill Out” concept (pictured at the top of this article) will be the basis for the new Leaf, which had kind of been the running theory at this point. Second, it sounds like Nissan will be going positively crossover-crazy with its EV portfolio. Not only will there be an EV Qashqai and EV Juke (along with a probably crossover-ish Leaf replacement), the Leaf appears to be going CUV, too.
The Hyper Urban is the largest of the family, so that’s where you’ll see the Qashqai EV draw from. The Hyper Punk is a compact crossover, and that seems like the most natural analog to the Juke. As for the even smaller Chill Out, we’ve established that’s going to be the starting point for the new Leaf. Personally, I’m very curious how the Juke replacement will turn out, because the Hyper Punk concept is absolutely wild.
Nissan seems to be mostly in on electrification, and has reiterated that it plans to have a 100% electric portfolio for sale in Europe by 2030. Presumably, it does plan to continue selling ICE vehicles globally. Right now, the only competitive EV the brand offers is the surprisingly popular Ariya, a car that to me confirms Nissan still has some real design chops — and gives me hope that these future EVs will be distinctively styled.
As part of today’s news, various UK government initiatives in support of Nissan’s plans are also being announced, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak even weighed in, saying, “Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s automotive industry, which already contributes a massive £71 billion a year to our economy. This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing.”
For more on today’s news, check out Nissan’s press release.
Electrek’s take
Nissan has taken its time electrifying since the first Leaf dropped well over a decade ago, though the Ariya was a big step in the right direction. But like many Japanese automakers, it wasn’t clear how devoted Nissan really was to an electric future, or if it just wanted to latch onto a perceived fad.
I think with today’s news, it’s fair to say Nissan is banking on BEVs for its future. With an electric-only model lineup planned for Europe by 2030, that’s a reasonable conclusion to draw. But the stronger signal here is that the company is banking on electrifying two of its most popular models — the Juke and Qashqai. These are mass-market nameplates that have high appeal to crossover-obsessed customers who make up the middle of the vehicle market. If Nissan said it was building an electrified Patrol (aka Armada), by contrast, that would signal a greater focus on the high end of the market (at least, for a mainstream carmaker).
Nissan also has a long history in the UK, though the company’s presence in Europe has been fading in recent years. It no longer sells any sedans or hatchbacks in major EU markets, with essentially a 5-model portfolio on offer in most markets (Qashqai, Juke, X-Trail, Leaf, Ariya). The Leaf is aging out, and Nissan’s remaining ICE passenger vehicles in the EU are all platform-shared with Renault.
A major investment in EV manufacturing capacity in the UK is welcome news, and could herald a new era for Nissan on the continent — and beyond.
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GreenPower Motor Company says it’s received three orders for 11 of its BEAST electric Type D school buses for western state school districts in Arizona, California, and Oregon.
GreenPower hasn’t made the sort of headline-grabbing promises or big-money commitments that companies like Nikola and Lion Electric have, but while those companies are floundering GPM seems to be plugging away, taking orders where it can and actually delivering buses to schools. Late last year, the company scored 11 more orders for its flagship BEAST electric school bus.
As far as these latest orders go, the breakdown is:
- seven to Los Banos Unified School District in Los Banos, California
- two for the Hood River County School District in Hood River, Oregon
- two for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Casa Grande, Arizona
Those two BEAST electric school buses for Arizona will join another 90-passenger BEAST that was delivered to Phoenix Elementary School District #1, which operates 15 schools in the center of Phoenix, late last year.
“As school districts continue to make the change from NOx emitting diesel school buses to a cleaner, healthier means of transporting students, school district transportation departments are pursuing the gold standard of the industry – the GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built (BEAST) school buses,” said Paul Start, GreenPower’s Vice President of Sales, School Bus Group. “(The) GreenPower school bus order pipeline and production schedule are both at record levels with sales projections for (2025) set to eclipse the 2024 calendar year.”
GreenPower moved into an 80,000-square-foot production facility in South Charleston, West Virigina in August 2022, and delivered its first buses to that state the following year.
Electrek’s Take
Since the first horseless carriage companies started operating 100 years ago (give or take), at least 1,900 different companies have been formed in the US, producing over 3,000 brands of American automobiles. By the mid 1980s, that had distilled down to “the big 3.”
All of which is to say: don’t let the recent round of bankruptcies fool you – startups in the car and truck industry is business as usual, but some of these companies will stick around. If you’re wondering which ones, look to the ones that are making units, not promises.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GreenPower Motors.
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While some recent high-profile bankruptcies have cast doubt on the EV startup space recently, medium-duty electric truck maker Harbinger got a shot of credibility this week with a massive $100 million Series B funding round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for fledgling EV brands like Lion Electric and Canoo, but box van builder Harbinger is bucking the trend, fueling its latest funding round with an order book of 4,690 vehicles that’s valued at nearly $500 million. Some of the company’s more notable customers including Bimbo Bakeries (which owns brands like Sara Lee, Thomas’, and Entenmann’s) and THOR Industries (Airstream, Jayco, Thor), which is also one of the investors in the Series B.
Other prominent investors include Tiger Global, the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, and ArcTern Ventures.
As for what makes Harbinger such an attractive investment prospect, Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund explains that, “Harbinger has demonstrated a remarkable ability to reach significant milestones far quicker than other EV companies … the market has been impressed by their ability to develop large portions of the vehicle in-house to drive down unit costs, while remaining capital efficient.”
The company plans to use the funds to ramp up to higher-volume production capacity and deliver on existing orders, as well as build-out of the company’s sales, customer support, and service operations.
“Harbinger is entering a rapid growth phase where we are focused on scaling production of our customer-ready platform,” said John Harris, co-founder and CEO. “These funds catalyze significant revenue generation. We’ve developed a vehicle for a segment that is ripe for electrification, and there is a strong product/market fit that will help fuel our upward trajectory through 2025 and beyond.”
The company has raised $200 million since its inception in 2021.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Harbinger.
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There is no state more associated with cars and car culture than Michigan – and the state that’s home to the Motor City has just taken a huge step into the future with the deployment of its first-ever all electric police vehicle.
The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E patrol vehicle is assigned to the Michigan State Police State Security Operations Section, and will be to be used by armed, uniformed members of the MSP specializing in general law enforcement and security services at state-owned facilities in the Lansing, MI area.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to research, in real time, how a battery electric vehicle performs on patrol,” says Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “Our state properties security officers patrol a substantially smaller number of miles per day than our troopers and motor carrier officers, within city limits and at lower speeds, coupled with the availability of charging infrastructure in downtown Lansing, making this the ideal environment to test the capabilities of a police-package battery electric vehicle.”
The MSP’s Precision Driving Unit is nationally renowned for its annual Police Vehicle Evaluation, which our own Scooter Doll participated in last year, driving the then-new Chevy Blazer EV Police Pursuit Vehicles in a game of “cops and robbers.”
In those tests, the EVs have impressed – but the MSP has been hesitant to commit to a BEV until now. “We began testing battery electric vehicles in 2022, but up until now hybrids were the only alternative fuel vehicle in our fleet,” said Lt. Nicholas Darlington, commander of the Precision Driving Unit. “Adding this battery electric vehicle to our patrol fleet will allow us to study the vehicle’s performance long-term to determine if there is a potential for cost savings and broader applicability within our fleet.”
Michigan joins other states like Wisconsin and California in deploying electric patrol cars and saving big money on fuel and maintenance, with many more out there and many more to come.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Michigan State Police.
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