Who is the biggest electric vehicle (EV) seller on this planet? Nissan. To be exact, it’s the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance that now claims to sell more EVs globally than anyone else.
One EV Sells More Than Any Other
It’s funny to think that many would assume the “most sold EVs” award goes to Tesla when Nissan is the actual torchbearer. Nissan has been at this game for a long time and has moved more LEAFs into homes than any other EV out there. Having driven the Versa and Cube electric mules as well as the various improvements from very first Nissan LEAF to the latest, I can say the car has nicely evolved and is now a stellar EV choice.
But, the LEAF is also the company’s only EV … until soon, that is. Nissan just announced it will produce its electric SUV concept after all. Perhaps this was prompted by the latest slew of EVs coming to the market? Either way, we can only cheer the Alliance’s decision to go forward on an electric SUV.
According to Engadget, the European design chief Mamoru Aoki announced to AutoCar Nissan had just approved the production of its electric IMx concept SUV. As to when, the company was a little more vague, quoting “a few years” from now.
Is Nissan Building A Tesla Killer Or Competitor?
So far, Nissan has never given the impression it was running after Tesla. But should it, it would want to match the performance Tesla’s Model X or coming Model Y. With the promise of the concept delivering 435 HP and a 380-mile range, that just might do it. And Nissan has a secret weapon onboard … a Brain-to-Vehicle, or B2V, system. Add to this the eventual onslaught of Chinese EVs coming onto the market and we can start to talk about competition. You can see how the next few years are going to be ripe with choice.
Eight new EVs from Renault and Nissan should hit the road by 2022. Renault seems to take the lion’s share of the public image while Nissan stays relatively content in its steady forward EV race. This doesn’t take Mitsubishi into the equation yet, which has been known to come around with left-field products that shake the industry to its core, dragging in a series of copycats. We personally believe Mitsubishi is going to be used as the performance halo car company. We only hope it will be green.
Should Nissan have been a little more vocal and sporty with what it’s doing with EVs? Today, top EV honors go to Tesla, not for being the #1 best seller but, by far, being the most charismatic and boisterous. Finally, though, Nissan looks set to deliver an electric IMx SUV for the same price is its gas equivalent and potential competition with a Tesla.
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