Nissan Navara electric car shapes up: Australian MD adds a piece to the jigsaw to take on coming all-EV Hyundai Ute, Isuzu D-Max and other electric utes

Nissan has outlined what the core requirement for an all-electric vehicle (EV) Navara ute need to be, as the brand moves to reassert itself as a leader in electrification for the latter part of this decade.

Speaking to CarsGuide at the launch of the Qashqai e-Power, Nissan Australia Managing Director, Adam Paterson, revealed that meeting Australian ute buyer needs by hitting certain markers is critical in the imminent next-gen model’s acceptance and uptake.

“The demands of those kinds of products – Navara and Patrol – are quite specific today,” he said.

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“There’s a towing capability requirement, there’s an off-road capability requirement, there’s a payload requirement, and the technology available today, either from a pure plug-in electrification standpoint or from our e-Power solution, would have a hard time today delivering what the demand from today’s customers are.

“So, Nissan’s road to electrifying those powertrains is through all solid-state batteries… and we believe that gives us the weight, charge density and cost structure that we can bring a product to market that could meet the demands of today.”

However, Paterson quickly added that – as a result – the Navara EV ute will not be ready for a few years yet.

“But that technology is not ready until much later in the decade,” he said. “So, there will still be a place for internal combustion engines (ICE) and those types of applications for the short term to meet today’s customer requirements.

The existing (D23-series) Navara was launched all the way back in 2014.

“It’s clear to us that the demands for this market are unique. The ute market is over 20 per cent of the total market in February, and if you try to compare us to the Western European market, the ute market is not as strong. That allows them to electrify at a faster rate because the ute requirements are not as strong as they are here, so when you look at the total electrified portfolio, there’s 20 per cent of our market that has very limited electrified market.

“So, when utes and full-sized SUVs are such an important part to the Australian consumer, the rate of electrification is not going to be as fast as much smaller cars are the norm.”

It’s a sure bet, then, that the next-gen Navara, expected to be unveiled soon as a 2025 model-year rival to the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, will continue with diesel and perhaps petrol-powered applications, including the company's acclaimed e-Power EV-first hybrid system – but the big question is, when exactly will the covers be pulled off?

“I don’t have dates for that, but demand is still there for the (current) Navara,” Paterson said.

The latest Mitsubishi Triton will form the basis of the next-gen Nissan Navara.

We might have an idea, though.

Nissan recently dropped a massive hint that the Mitsubishi Triton-derived but Nissan-designed next-gen Navara is not too far away.

As reported late last month, in a promotional video released as part of its “The Arc” medium-term business plan outlining plans to introduce 30 new models by the 2026 Japanese fiscal year (which is March 30, 2027), Nissan teased a number of silhouetted, computer-generated vehicles, including what appeared to be a replacement for the now-decade-old D23 Navara.

“During the The Arc (sic) period, Nissan in Oceania will launch four new models, including a new 1-tonne pickup, leveraging Nissan's partnership with Mitsubishi Motors,” according to the accompanying press release.

Nissan's The Arc mid-term model update showed a number of future vehicles in CGI action.

“Additional new electric vehicles will be introduced in Oceania, as the transition to electrification gathers pace.”

Clearly, Nissan is flat-out busy readying its core line-up for the second half of this decade, and an electric ute seems certain to feature amongst them.

Keep watching this space.