Nissan will launch a "low cost" electric SUV in 2018: will the success of the Qashqai be repeated?

The Nissan Terra will reach the market next year and will be built on the same platform as the 2018 Nissan Leaf.

Nissan will unveil a new electric SUV next October during the Tokyo Motor Show. The crossover will be called Terra, just like the fuel-cell prototype launched in 2012 (the one seen in these images). The Japanese brand has finally opted for a 100% electric model that will be built on the same platform as the new Nissan Leaf and that will reach the market next year.

Nissan’s design chief, Alfonso Albaisa, has revealed that the new electric SUV will have a slightly larger size than the current Nissan Qashqai.

Everything suggests that the Nissan Terra will use the same 40 kWh battery fitted to the 2018 Nissan Leaf, an element that guarantees an official range of 378 km (according to the NEDC cycle); in real-world driving conditions the vehicle is expected to cover around 240 km on a single charge. Although nothing has been confirmed, some media have speculated that the Terra may offer optionally a battery of between 53 kWh and 56 kWh.

Whatever its final range, the Nissan Terra will sit below models such as the Tesla Model X or the upcoming Audi e-tron Sportback in this respect. However, the Japanese model will offer a much more affordable price than its premium rivals. Considering that there is still no “low cost” electric SUV on the market, the Nissan Terra could be a real sales success, and may even become the first in its segment, something the Japanese brand had already done cleverly with the Nissan Qashqai, which guaranteed it an excellent position in the SUV market. Will history repeat itself?