Once the proud pioneer of electric vehicles, Nissan is now trailing the competition with its obsolete Leaf hatchback and late-at-the-party Ariya compact crossover SUV. But they're trying to stage a comeback, no worries.
The Japanese automaker still has the Leaf on sale, even though it doesn't necessarily make sense when compared to younger competitors. The Ariya would be a good choice, also, if not for the Tesla Model Y best-seller and the American company's new pricing strategy that seeks to take MSRPs downstream instead of up the mountain.
However, Nissan seems pretty confident that it can pull through a comeback, and in Europe, they are already preparing for the proposed ban of ICE-powered vehicle sales from 2035. Currently, they're only testing the conceptual waters with the recent Nissan 20-23 prototype. Still, we can easily see that morphing into a new Micra generation with full electric power under the hood.
Meanwhile, across the big pond (aka the Atlantic Ocean), Nissan just revealed the pricing for its 2024 Z Nismo sports car – so they don't look too worried about the EV revolution. However, that doesn't mean they don't have plans set in motion. According to the latest rumors from the mill, the Nissan Versa (America's cheapest car) and Altima sedans might be discontinued after the 2025 model year.
Interestingly, that's not because the Japanese carmaker wants to make room for additional SUVs and trucks in the lineup. Instead, the whispers talk about an all-new sedan joining the fray with battery power as the only powertrain option. Naturally, that caught the attention of fans and critics alike – even across the parallel universes of vehicular CGI.
Over there, the Halo oto channel on YouTube provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some CGI ideas about the new Altima or whatever it's called the electric sedan successor. Curiously, the resident pixel master cooked up two versions – the fully electric sedan the rumor mill talked about and a crossover EV in the same vein as the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Maybe that's their response to the departure of the smaller Versa, who knows.
They both have a bold look with sweeping lines and a front fascia underpinned by the cascading LED headlights and DRLs. Sure, it remains to be seen if Nissan will develop the styling at a global level after first premiering the new look on the Nissan Pathfinder Concept earlier this year in China.
Anyway, truth be told, Nissan had better hurry with the release of these new electric vehicles if it doesn't want to lose touch with the top of the sector where Tesla is currently making the law and also applying it. So, do you approve of the 2026 Nissan Altima turning into a fully electric sedan or not?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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