A hybrid Nissan Navara ute could be on sale by the mid-2020s -- around the same time Toyota has already confirmed it intends to electrify every model in its range, including the HiLux.
The introduction of a Navara e-Power – as Nissan dubs its range-extender hybrid technology – was hinted at by the company’s global electric vehicle director Nic Thomas during his recent visit to Australia for the launch of the second-generation Nissan LEAF last week.
Thomas also suggested e-Power technology would be applicable for Nissan heavy-duty SUVs, while future fuel-cell technology might be rolled out in delivery vehicles.
Nissan plans to introduce eight battery-electric vehicles and eight e-Power vehicles globally by 2022, when it is shooting for a million electrified vehicle sales by. By 2025 it forecasts they will account for 50 per cent of its sales in Japan and Europe.
In Australia, the plan is to have electrified Nissan models account for 30 per cent of the line-up by 2022.
Given Nissan’s ambitious global model rollout plans, Thomas conceded the Navara, larger SUVs and vans were all candidates for electrification. The current Pathfinder seven-seat SUV is already offered as a hybrid, albeit not with e-Power tech.
“If you are going to have eight cars then eight cars is a significant part of our global portfolio and if you want to sell one million cars then you are going to have to be across many segments,” Thomas said.
“As the price of the battery technology drops that enables us to do more and more things, and the robustness and durability of the batteries is fantastic and that enables us to cover more and more segments.
Specifically asked about Navara, heavy-duty SUVs and commercial vehicles, Thomas indicated their size and weight made them a challenge now. However, improving battery and motor technology would change that in the 2020s.
“Light commercial vehicle, ute drivers and truck drivers are very demanding,” said Thomas. “This is a working vehicle for them and we are not at the point today of wanting to sell them a vehicle.
“We are concentrating on passenger vehicles today, but I am sure by the middle of the decade the battery technology will be cheap enough and the motors will be bigger and more powerful and those sorts of things.
“You will see all sorts of varied applications. It’s an evolving proposition.”
Thomas said pure-electric tech would be “limited” in this area of the market, which points toward e-Power taking precedence. As e-Power hybrid powertrains don’t directly drive the wheels – instead recharging the battery – it prompts the question of whether a petrol or diesel ‘generator’ would be used.
While details of the HiLux hybrid are limited, Nissan’s Navara hybrid is expected to be an orthodox design and that suggests diesel – which dominates the ute market – could continue.
“One of the reasons people love diesel is the torque and the pulling capability. One of the benefits of EV is the torque so there you have perfect meshing -- no compromise there,” said Thomas, who nominated hydrogen fuel-call as a logical heavy truck powerplant.
“Maybe there will be other technologies that will come out during the decade like fuel-cells that are more appropriate for those longer distances and very predictive routes, so you only need to build limited fuelling stations,” he theorised.