Nissan Qashqai EV, Juke EV will join Ariya and new Leaf

Nissan is about to double its all-electric offering in the mainstream, with the current 'new' Ariya SUV and Leaf hatch to be joined by a Juke EV and Qashqai EV. The Leaf is also confirmed for a new third generation.

The news, announced Friday evening Australian time, comes as part of a $5 billion investment into its UK manufacturing program that will see Nissan's EV36Zero 'hub' expanded to include a third EV-specific factory.

The new models are next-generation programs, with Nissan confirming all three will be "inspired by three exciting all-electric concept models, two of which were recently unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show."

The company then goes on to list three of its recent concepts, named with "how do you do, fellow kids?" energy: the Hyper Urban, Hyper Punk and the 2021 Chill-Out.

These three new models, plus the Ariya, are representative of Nissan's plan for its new European (and UK) models to be exclusively electric.

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Click to view more Chill-Out images

As for Australia..?

For now, Nissan remains reticent to reveal any firm plans for future electric models in Australia, with only the ageing and expensive second-generation Leaf on its current roster.

In June, the company's regional boss Guillaume Cartier said the Ariya is a "not this year" proposition for Australia, despite launching overseas in 2020 and Nissan confirming in 2021 that it will (eventually) come here.

Like Mitsubishi (and unlike just about every other volume-selling brand here, although Toyota is being dragged kicking and screaming into EVs), Nissan says the Australian market isn't ready for EVs, pointing the finger primarily at our achingly slow crawl towards new fuel regulations.

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Click to view more Hyper Urban images

The company also claims overseas demand is inhibiting its ability to make the Ariya available here.

This is a familiar line, but, economically, a valid excuse: manufacturers operating in Europe (and California) are required to sell a volume of EVs sufficient to offset the carbon emissions of their petrol and diesel models, or else face stiff financial penalties. If Nissan's production capacity is only able to meet its European obligations – while facing no such consequences here in Australia – it can hardly be blamed for prioritising those markets.

The company's third new EV plant should help to overcome that issue, but its Australian arm is still unable to offer anything but the most vague comment – likely the result of a gag from global headquarters, as the local office must surely be seething at its almost complete and very conspicuous absence in the EV segment.

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Click to see more Hyper Punk images

Asked for an update on its plans, a Nissan Australia spokesperson could say only: "This is a very exciting announcement for Nissan and further supports our vision for Ambition 2030. Further information about the three models will be released at a later time".

As next-generation models, there is little doubt that at least the Qashqai EV and Juke EV will come to Australia, while the Ariya we get will likely be an updated model more suited to the battle the competition it will face in 2024. Or 2025? Your guess is as good as ours.

When we'll see the three new EVs revealed is unclear, with Nissan saying only that "further information about the three models, including names, specifications and launch dates, will be released at a later time".

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Click to view more Ariya images

We can guess, though, based on each current model's life cycle.

The second-gen Juke was unveiled in late 2019, suggesting a replacement will be due by around 2025 or 2026. The third-generation, still very fresh in Australia, debuted overseas in early 2021 – pointing to sometime around 2027 for a successor. However, the first-gen Juke and second-gen Qashqai soldiered on for nine and eight years respectively, so we could be in for waits just as long.

Nissan intends for its European passenger line-up to be exclusively electric by 2030.