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Nissan to shift focus in the move to EVs

Boss of company's Energy Services division argues phasing out combustion power requires a holistic approach to suit buyer lifestyles.


Intelligent Power - Intelligent Drive - Intelligent Integration. According to Francisco Carranza - Managing Director of Nissan Energy Services, these three pillars will shape the way the Japanese brand moves further into an electric future.

Already boasting the world's most popular EV, the Leaf, which has sold more than 400,000 units globally, and an electric van in Europe, Nissan is powering ahead with a renewed focus on ending internal combustion production, and offering a compelling lifestyle choice rather than just a car.

"Intelligent power is about knowing that we understand that we have to replace combustion engines and transition all our products to an electric platform," Carranza told CarAdvice.

"Before 2030 is the general discussion, important for us is the planning," Carranza continued when pressed on when Nissan may cease production of combustion-powered vehicles.

Nissan knows that the electric change isn't quite as simple as just going out to buy an electric car – "You need to spend a lot of time upgrading the grid infrastructure, you can’t just ban internal combustion cars from a city before you plan to make it easy for electric vehicles to operate," Carranza said.

The energy division's boss reckons 'Intelligent Drive' is Nissan's principle that the vehicle will become much more than simply a way of getting from A to B.

"Vehicles need to be more and more smart, in the way they are responding to the needs of our customers," he said, "safety and the drive experience, are fundamental to us and to our customers."

It's an acknowledgment from Nissan, like we've heard many manufacturers state recently, that modern buyers want a vehicle to reflect their lifestyle choice, their environmental sensibility, their belief structure and the modern, connected world.

Cars are getting smarter sure, but there is still a long way to go, when you consider the power your smartphone can now harness in the palm of your hand.

What Nissan calls 'Intelligent Integration' is also an interesting concept, and a reference to the fact that the car needs to do more than it ever has at any point in history.

"It's no longer a standalone product," Carranza said in reference to the way the game has changed, "cars are connected to the internet, connected to the electricity grid."

"The electric vehicle needs to have a very complex interaction with the electricity."

There have been many instances over the last 100+ years when the motor car has changed the way we live, but it's never been as wide-ranging or as potentially exciting as the next decade in automotive development.

We might not have seen swarms of Leafs running round in Australia, but Nissan is proud of its electric car and thinks its continued success can pave the way for some of these changes.

"These three key pillars are determining the way we do business now and into the future," Carranza told CarAdvice.

"We are no longer just a car company. It's no longer simply about how beautiful fast or comfortable it is. We will be more and more present in the life of a customer, beyond how the car works or does what it does."

"The implications behind that are tremendous. This is a fundamental change in how we do business, not just a marketing slogan," he added.

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Trent Nikolic

Trent Nikolic has been road testing and writing about cars for almost 20 years. He’s been at CarAdvice/Drive since 2014 and has been a motoring editor at the NRMA, Overlander 4WD Magazine, Hot4s and Auto Salon Magazine.

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