Nissan raids its parts bin to build an electric Leaf pickup truck

By Stephen Edelstein September 19, 2014

Other than Tesla Motors’ semi-serious proposal to build a pickup in Texas, there hasn’t been much talk of an all-electric truck.

So what’s sustainably-minded pickup buyer to do?

The only real option is to cut up an existing electric car and add a pickup bed, which is exactly what Nissan did to a Leaf at its proving ground in Stanfield, Arizona.

“Sparky” is a Leaf with the bed from a Frontier midsize pickup grafted on. It’s used to haul parts around the Arizona facility, which is where Nissan does much of its hot-weather testing.

It may have been the product of an OEM, but the Leaf pickup was designed like an aftermarket customization job, using whatever parts worked.

Once engineers cut away the Leaf’s roof and rear doors, they found the Frontier bed was the perfect length, although it did have to be narrowed to fit the former hatchback’s track.

Related: Nissan’s self-driving car for 2020 won’t be fully autonomous

The bulkhead between cab and bed actually came from a full-size Titan, and even retains the truck’s power rear window.

The electric trucklet still looks like a stock Leaf at the front, but at the back, designers had to rearrange the taillights, and even incorporated the stock rear spoiler and third brake light into the tailgate.

While it would be the perfect vehicle for eco-friendly lawn-care services the Leaf pickup truck is just a one-off project vehicle.

Nissan does plan to sell the e-NV200 electric van to workaday customers in the U.S. soon, but it’s nowhere near as entertaining as this Leaf.

This is just the latest of many Leaf adaptations. Because there are so few electric cars on the market, the Leaf has been called upon to fill a variety of roles, including police car, taxi, and even stretch limousine.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

GMC poured all of its truck-making expertise into the Sierra EV pickup

A 2024 GMC Sierra EV towing an Airstream trailer.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks are twins, and that will continue to be the case when they go electric.
Chevy unveiled its Silverado EV at CES 2022, and now it’s GMC’s turn. The 2024 GMC Sierra EV borrows some key features from its Chevy sibling, as well GMC’s first electric truck — the Hummer EV. Some of those features were actually pioneered by General Motors two decades ago on non-electric trucks, and are now making a comeback.
You can reserve a Sierra EV now, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to start until early calendar-year 2024. Production starts with a high-end Denali Edition 1 model, with other versions arriving for the 2025 model year.

Design
The Sierra EV updates the design language of the internal-combustion GMC Sierra for the electric age. A big grille is no longer needed for cooling, but it’s still an important styling element that designers didn’t want to break away from, Sharon Gauci, GMC executive director of global design, explained to Digital Trends and other media in an online briefing ahead of the truck’s reveal. The grille shape is now outlined in lights, with an illuminated GMC logo.
Like the Hummer EV and Silverado EV, the Sierra EV uses GM’s Ultium modular battery architecture which, among other things, means the battery pack is an integral part of the structure. So unlike most other trucks — including the rival Ford F-150 Lightning — the Sierra EV doesn’t have a separate frame. The cab and bed are one piece as well, all of which helps increase structural rigidity.
The Sierra EV also borrows the Midgate setup from the Silverado EV. First seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT in the early 2000s, it allows the bulkhead and glass behind the cab to be removed, effectively extending the bed. Combined with the fold-out MultiPro tailgate from the internal-combustion Sierra, it can expand the default 5.0-foot, 11-inch bed length to 10 feet, 10 inches. A frunk (GMC calls it the “eTrunk”) provides covered storage space as well.
Because it’s pitched as a premium vehicle, the Sierra EV gets upscale interior materials like open-pore wood trim and stainless steel speaker grilles for its Bose audio system. But the design itself, with a freestanding portrait touchscreen and rectangular instrument cluster, looks suspiciously similar to the Ford Mustang Mach-E cabin. The touchscreen even has the same big volume knob as the Ford. We hope GMC’s lawyers are ready.

Cars

Nissan wants the 2023 Ariya to be its comeback EV, but the bar has been raised

Front view of the 2023 Nissan Ariya.

Nissan played an understated role in the modern era of electric cars. While Tesla gets most of the attention, the Nissan Leaf became the first modern mass-market EV when it launched in December 2010. But Nissan has squandered that early lead. The Leaf remains a decent car, but Nissan needed to follow it up with another model, specifically an SUV, that would appeal to more car shoppers. That’s where the 2023 Nissan Ariya comes in.
The Ariya is the long-awaited sequel to the Leaf, boosting updated tech, better performance, and an SUV body style to match current trends. But during the Ariya’s long gestation (it was originally supposed to launch in 2021), other automakers have come up with electric SUVs of their own. So while it was once a leader, Nissan must now follow the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, among others.
Pricing starts at $44,485 (with destination) for the base Ariya Engage trim level with front-wheel drive and the smaller 65-kilowatt-hour (63-kWh usable capacity) battery pack. Pricing rises to $61,485 for the top Platinum+ model with all-wheel drive and a 91-kWh (87-kWh usable capacity) pack, but all-wheel drive models won’t arrive until after the front-wheel drive models. Nissan hasn’t discussed plans to assemble the Ariya in the U.S., so it likely won’t qualify for the revised federal EV tax credit.

Design and interior
If it had launched even two years ago, the Ariya would have looked cutting-edge. Its rounded exterior surfaces make a nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love. It’s a nice-looking vehicle too, but so are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, all of which have gone on sale since the Ariya was announced in 2020. Nissan is no longer a trendsetter, but the Ariya can at least claim a more SUV-like feel than those other EVs, in both its tall profile and high-and-mighty driving position.
More significant than the styling, though, is that the Ariya rides on a new EV-specific platform. In contrast to the Leaf, which shares some of its structure with gasoline cars, engineers could take full advantage of the efficiencies of an electric powertrain and maximize interior space. Like certain other automakers, Nissan also opted out of a frunk in order to maximize passenger space, moving components like the air conditioner under the hood to make more room in the cabin.
Rounded surfaces nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love.

Cars

Jeep is launching its first two electric SUVs in the U.S. in 2024

Rendering of the Jeep Recon electric SUV.

Jeep will launch four electric SUVs for North America and Europe by the end of 2025, with at least two coming to the U.S., the automaker confirmed Thursday. While Jeep has some plug-in hybrids in its lineup, these will be the brand's first all-electric models.

The first of these models to launch will be the Jeep Recon, which is scheduled to start production in 2024, with reservations opening in early 2023. While it won't be fully revealed until next year, Jeep confirmed the Recon will have a "one-touch power top, removable doors, and glass," similar to the current Jeep Wrangler. While it doesn't replace the Wrangler, it's definitely inspired by the iconic off-roader, Jim Morrison, head of the Jeep brand in North America, said during a presentation of the electrification plan.