Nissan’s Small Electric SUV Is Dead On Arrival

In 2022, Nissan announced plans to expand its electric vehicle lineup in the US beyond the Leaf and Ariya with a third small EV. But as the market shifts and more automakers pull back on their ambitious EV plans, Nissan has reportedly killed its small electric SUV for America before it had a chance to live.

According to Automotive News, Nissan won’t move forward with its subcompact EV production in the US. Instead, the small EV will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in England and likely sold outside of the US. The SUV—codenamed the PZ1L—would have been smaller than the current Rogue but larger than the Leaf hatchback; Likely around the size of a Kicks.

The company planned to produce the SUV at its manufacturing facility in Canton, Mississippi, where it previously invested $500 million toward Nissan and Infiniti EV production. Nissan still plans to build two larger electric SUVs and two sedans at its Canton facility, with hopes that discontinuing the smallest model can increase production of those four vehicles.

“We will continue to evaluate market opportunities for new models and make adjustments accordingly,” Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman told Automotive News.

It’s unclear what this subcompact EV would have looked like—or what it might have been called. Previous reports hinted at the next-generation Leaf moving to an SUV configuration, drawing inspiration from the 2021 Chill-Out concept (pictured here). But there’s no indication that the next-generation Leaf is the discontinued model in question.