Nissan is planning to go electric-only in Europe by 2030, in line with many countries’ own deadline on the ban of internal combustion engine car sales. As a preview of its electric future, the Japanese carmaker has unveiled a racecar-inspired EV concept, dubbed the “Concept 20-23”.
The company doesn’t say much about the Concept 20-23, merely stating that it’s a “sporty, urban EV concept” designed by the Nissan Design Europe (NDE) studio, as a celebration of the design arm studio’s 20th anniversary in Paddington, London.
It certainly looks a lot, though, with a performance-oriented design on the outside featuring aggressive bumpers, massive flared wheel arches, an elaborate rear diffuser, roof-mounted rear wings, and even scissor doors.
The circular light signatures take inspiration from the all-new Nissan Z, while the roof scoop-like element looks to be a LIDAR sensor instead of actual air intakes, hinting at Nissan’s future direction in terms of advanced driver assistance features.
Europe is already a mature market in terms of electrified vehicles. In the five-year period between 2018 and 2022, sales of electric and electrified vehicles rose from 5% to 44% of the total industry volume, with full EVs in particular rising from 1% to 12%.
For Nissan, EVs already account for 16% of the company’s sales in Europe today. In fact, the entire Nissan range in Europe has already been fully electrified since 2022, and a third of all Nissan EVs worldwide is sold in Europe.
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Moving forward, all new model introductions in Europe will be fully electric as the company works towards its 2030 goal. This will include two Nissan EVs that have already been confirmed for Europe, including an all-new compact EV to succeed the Nissan Micra as the entry-level model in the company’s line-up, alongside another yet-to-be-revealed model that will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in UK, which has recently been revamped as part of the GBP1 Billion (approx. RM5.7 billion) EV36Zero project.
Globally, under the Nissan Ambition 2030 roadmap, the company is planning to introduce a total of 27 electrified models by 2030, including 19 fully electric vehicles. A key enabler for the company’s EV assault will be the introduction of cobalt-free technology for its batteries by 2028, which is expected to reduce battery costs by up to 65%.
Nissan is also aiming to launch an EV powered by all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028. According to the Japanese carmaker, the oft-discussed battery technology will help make its EVs more efficient and accessible, thanks to its shorter charging time as low as just one-third of today’s batteries.
The ASSB technology will also further bring down the cost of battery packs to USD75 per kWh by 2028, with the company expecting it to be brought down further to USD65 per kWh to achieve cost parity between EV and ICE-powered vehicles in the future. This will allow the carmaker to expand its EV offerings across segments and offer more dynamic performance, Nissan says.
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