Nissan unveils four new concepts to preview electrification drive

Nissan recently announced its electrification strategy, confirming it would launch 23 electrified models between now and 2030. 15 of those cars will be pure-electric vehicles, and the company has previewed how some of them will look with these four new concepts.

The first of the bunch, called the Nissan Chill Out, isn’t that far away from reality. It’ll morph into the brand’s replacement for the Leaf, which will go into production in the middle of this decade, leading the development of Nissan’s reinvented Sunderland EV hub.

The Chill Out is a coupe-SUV, which is designed to rival the Citroen e-C4. It also features the same design language as Nissan’s larger next-generation EV, the Ariya, sharing the same narrow headlamps, U-shaped grille and swept-back windscreen.

It’s based on the brand’s CMF-EV underpinnings and is powered by Nissan’s dual-motor, all-wheel drive e-4ORCE electric powertrain, both of which are also shared with the Ariya. However, the Chill Out’s slightly smaller dimensions means it’ll likely come with a smaller battery pack than the Ariya’s 87kWh unit.

Nissan is yet to confirm how much power the e-4ORCE system will make in the eventual production version of the Chill Out, but the four-wheel-drive Ariya is available with a choice of three outputs. The cheapest version produces 275bhp, the mid-range model has 302bhp and the flagship variant generates a whopping 389bhp and 600Nm of torque.

Looking further into the future, there’s the Nissan Max-Out. It’s a two-seat convertible sports car, designed to preview the blueprint for the brand’s future performance models. We expect it’ll be driven by the most potent version of the company’s e-4ORCE electric powertrain. 

Nissan also says the concept has been designed to handle well. The battery pack is mounted on the chassis, which gives the car a low centre of gravity, and Nissan claims the concept is “ultra-lightweight.” As an added quirk, the front seats can fold flat into the floor to provide extra space.

The Surf-Out concept is a single cab pure-electric pick-up truck which Nissan says is “designed for fun.” It has a quirky see-through radiator grille, an open cab at the rear and an unusual light bar for the tailgate that can display emojis. Again, we expect the concept will use the most potent version of Nissan’s e-4ORCE powertrain.

Finally, there’s the Nissan Hang Out. It’s a family MPV with modular seating, quad sliding doors and boxy styling. It also features an advanced version of Nissan’s ProPilot driver-assistance technology, which we can only assume will take more responsibilities away from the driver, potentially offering unsupervised autonomous driving on motorways.

Now click here to read all the latest news on Nissan’s aggressive electrification drive…