Should Nissan Produce This EV Concept, Inspired by Online Racing?

• Nissan reveals Concept 20-23 to celebrate 20 years of Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in Paddington, London.

• The concept was created by younger members of NDE's team, who imagined an urban EV they themselves would like to drive around London.

• Nissan plans to only introduce new electric models in Europe starting in 2025, before transitioning to EV-only sales in 2030, even though the UK's own ZEV sales target has now been pushed back to 2035.

The UK may have moved up the target year of EV-only sales by five years, to 2035, but Nissan plans to only introduce new electric models in Europe far sooner, starting in 2025. And by 2030, Nissan will only sell electric cars on the continent.

The automaker renewed its commitment to EVs this week with a new concept, timed to mark the 20th anniversary of Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in Paddington, London.

Dubbed Concept 20-23, reflecting the 20th anniversary of the studio along with the current year, the hatchback is intended as a design exercise with no constraints—one that the younger members of NDE would like to drive on the streets of London themselves.

The design of the concept also reflects Nissan's participation in Formula E, as well as the world of online racing, which explains the brash three-door hatchback profile with flared wheel arches and a wing.

"The young team here at NDE was given a simple brief: Design a fun electric city car that you'd like to drive every day in London," Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's Senior Vice President for global design.

"The 20-23 Concept they designed is a compact hatchback which is strongly influenced by the online racing world. I love the story it tells about how the worlds of modern city living, online gaming, and zero-emissions mobility intersect."

Intended as a cheeky exterior design exercise, the hatch features plenty of aerodynamic elements and a muscular profile, demonstrating the influence of online racing games on today's urban car culture.

The sporty electric model was revealed on a barge just outside Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NDE) that is not too far from Nissan Technical Centre Europe, which marks its 35th anniversary this year.

Both sites are receiving €40 million worth of upgrades this year, just as the automaker moves to boost its EV lineup in a crucial market.

"EVs powered by renewables are key to us achieving carbon neutrality, which is central to our Ambition 2030 vision," said Makoto Uchida, Nissan President and CEO. "Nissan will make the switch to full electric by 2030 in Europe—we believe it is the right thing to do for our business, our customers, and for the planet."

In all, the automaker plans to launch 19 new EVs by 2030, with a couple of new technologies expected to boost EV adoption rates.

First, Nissan plans to introduce cobalt-free EV batteries, which should bring down the costs of batteries some 65% by 2028. Second, Nissan plans to offer an EV with a solid-state battery by the same year, promising one-third the required charging time along with a lower production cost.

Both plans are ambitious, especially given Nissan's long lead time to introduce its second mass-market EV, with the Ariya crossover arriving stateside only last year.

But when it comes to Europe, Nissan has more models in the works, including an electric successor to the Nissan Micra, which was a hatch positioned below the Versa that has not been offered stateside but sold in Canada for periods of time in the 1990s and the 2010s.

It remains to be seen whether Nissan will revisit the hot hatch bodystyle in the US at all, amid a sharp turn to crossovers of all sizes.

The next-gen Leaf itself, for instance, will become a crossover, thus moving even further away from Nissan's hatch history. That's before we even get to the Skyline, which could also become some kind of crossover.

If it feels like everything's been turning into a crossover for the past decade, you're not alone.

Should Nissan produce a small urban EV at all in the coming years, or will all demand continue to focus on crossovers? Let us know what you think.