Nissan Navara 'all but guaranteed' to electrify
Wednesday, 24 June 2020
Nissan is expected to dole out some upgrades for its Navara ute later this year, said to consist of safety improvements and visual tweaks, but the real magic is waiting for the next generation ute. According to carsales.com.au, Nissan is 'all but guaranteed' to give the Navara a hybrid powertrain.
The system hasn't been detailed yet but it could be either petrol-electric or diesel-electric, according to Nissan Australia CEO, Stephen Lester.
“The exciting thing about electrification is that at the moment it’s only bound by the imagination in terms of what it can do,' he told carsales.
“That’s where in concepts such as utes and pick-ups there is an opportunity there, for sure, that is not limited by the technology or what the powertrain can do or deliver, that doesn’t suit the vehicle.”
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Nissan may even see fit to give the Navara the e-Power drivetrain, which uses electric motors to drive the wheels. The battery is supplemented by a small petrol generator which, Nissan says, removes the need for an external charger.
However, a fully electric Navara or Titan truck is a bit further away than an e-Power hybrid. Back in 2019, Nic Thomas, Nissan's global electric vehicle director, said that Nissan will limit its EV tech to passenger vehicles for the foreseeable future.
He added that e-Power will eventually become cheap enough and the motors strong enough for commercial applications. Presumably, by the same time, the petrol generator will have shrunk and batteries become denser and more power efficient to improve range, power and towing capacity.
An electric Navara will also likely depend on the success of full-size electric pick-ups over in America. There will be a good sample pool to study, with Tesla's Cybertruck, Rivian's R1T, Ford's electric F-150 and GM's forthcoming electric truck all arriving within the next year or two.
“In fact, EVs with instant torque and the ability to put so much power down – and the layout of a pick-up truck – could potentially be a very logical EV layout and set-up. At the moment that’s always constrained against one’s understanding of what the current range and towing or hauling capacity is,' Lester told carsales.
“When you park that part of it, you start to realise that from an equation standpoint, all the other pieces line up and it’ll take time to ultimately get that fit for purpose to marry up in the real world.'
Nissan won't be the only one introducing an electrified ute to the local market. Toyota is set to adopt hybrid tech into the Hilux family by 2025, with other ute builders not far behind. The next-gen Navara will share its platform with the Mitsubishi Triton so an electrified Triton is also probably on the cards.
In the meantime, the top-spec N-Trek Warrior is available now for $74,990.