Surprise, Surprise: The Nissan Leaf Has Turned Into A Crossover

The original Nissan Leaf was one of the very first mass-market fully electric cars that was actually a Proper Car and not some underpowered, crash regulation-skirting tissue box on wheels. As the EV market has continued to swell, though, the Leaf sort of feels like it’s been left behind a bit.

Nissan will be hoping that changes with this new third-generation car, with which the somewhat inevitable has happened: while the first two Leafs (Leaves?) were Golf-sized family hatches, the new one has swollen in size and stature and become a crossover. Sigh.

It shares its underpinnings, Nissan’s CMF-EV platform, with the company’s bigger EV crossover, the Ariya. While Nissan hasn’t confirmed any powertrain details yet, we imagine it’ll share a similar range of single-motor, front-wheel drive and dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrains, with scope perhaps for a warmed-over Nismo version.

As with the first two generations, it’ll be sold in multiple worldwide markets, but European versions will be built at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland in northeastern England.

The new Leaf is one of several full EVs from Nissan headed to Europe in the next few years, alongside a sixth-generation Micra that shares plenty with the new Renault 5 and a yet-to-be-unveiled third iteration of the Juke. The latter will be a significantly toned-down version of 2023’s mad Hyper Punk concept (in other words, don’t expect it to have scissor doors).

While Nissan’s one of the only manufacturers to not yet publicly backtrack or delay its plans to go all-electric in Europe, it’s also announced a round of updates for its existing e-Power hybrid drivetrains, which suggests it’s expecting to keep combustion engines around in Europe for a little while longer.

Excited about the new Leaf? Erm, us neither, to be honest, but hopefully, it’s a step that’ll help Nissan right its current course and start producing stuff that enthusiasts can get excited about again.