The Japanese automaker is in talks with the Renault EV Ampere division to produce a new A-segment electric hatchback. The main reasons for cooperation are lower costs and higher speeds through shared platforms.
Nissan is in the early stages of developing an electric city car for Europe, but it is known that the new EV will be cheap and will share a chassis with the upcoming Renault Twingo EV.
The Japanese company has started talks with the Ampere EV division to develop an electric vehicle based on the Ampr Small platform, which, in addition to underpinning the future Twingo, also underpins the larger Renault 4 and 5.
Speaking to the media at the Ampere ElectriCity production center in northern France, Nissan CEO Makoto Utida said the company plans to return to the European city car segment for the first time in more than a decade, using a platform provided by the French from Renault.
According to him, Nissan is planning an electric Micra successor on the Ampr Small platform as early as next year. He did not provide details on what this new model might look like or how much it might cost, but stressed that a key reason for working with Ampere was to reduce development costs and timelines.
„Thanks to this partnership, we strive to optimize the coverage of the European market. With the Ampere, we are aiming for a very short development time, which means we can deliver this new car to the market at the best time,”, he added.