(Motor Authority) — Nissan in 2021 rolled out a handful of concepts previewing potential designs for the brand’s upcoming EV portfolio. One of them was a pickup truck called the Surf-Out, which could prove popular as both a lifestyle truck and light-duty workhorse in the U.S.
Nissan design chief Alfonso Albaisa told Motor Authority in a 2022 interview that his design team was investigating an electric pickup truck, and now an executive representing Nissan dealerships has revealed that Nissan is studying one for the U.S.
The information was revealed by Nissan Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Tyler Slade in an interview with Automotive News (subscription required) published on Sunday.
Slade also said in the interview that dealers are asking for a mid-size electric truck, and that commercial buyers could benefit as running costs could potentially be lower compared to a traditional gas-powered truck.
While Ford already offers an electric truck in the form of the full-size F-150 Lightning, and General Motors and Ram are readying full-size electric trucks of their own for 2024, any Nissan electric truck is likely to be in the mid-size category or smaller. There is already a mid-size electric pickup on the market in the form of the R1T, though it comes at a hefty price starting at $73,000.
According to Automotive News’ sources, Nissan plans to exit the full-size pickup truck segment, potentially as soon as this year. Nissan’s current option in the segment, the Titan, managed just 27,406 sales in 2021 and only 15,063 sales in 2022.
Nissan plans 23 electrified models across the Nissan and Infiniti brands by 2030, of which 15 will be EVs. The first of the new EVs is expected in 2025.