Nissan Ariya


As automakers finalize their production plans for the coming years, we are likely to see a common trend: the end of combustion engine development in select markets in the wake of stringent emissions legislation. To this effect, Nissan announced this week that it will abandon the development of new combustion engines for cars sold in Europe, “as a consequence of an upcoming switch in customer preferences caused by the implementation of Euro 7 regulations.”

It’s estimated that the Euro 7 regulations will come in to effect around 2025, so that’s a quick switch for Nissan. In simple terms, Nissan — like many other automakers — anticipates that vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines will continue to rise in price, both for automakers and consumers. With this in mind, Nissan estimates that more people will move to embrace EVs, and Nissan’s Chief Operating Officer, Ashwani Gupta, projects that the development and production of zero-emissions vehicles will ultimately be a cheaper endeavour.

2022 Nissan LEAF SV

In the European market, continuing to develop ICE vehicles will require substantial investments to meet new legislation criteria which, for many automakers, makes the switch to an ell-electric future that much more appealing. To this effect, the European Commission previously submitted a proposal for a sales ban on new combustion cars from 2035 and, in response to this, many automakers have announced plans to drop ICEs by 2030. However, Nissan’s development of conventional engines will continue in the United States.

Nissan has seemingly already begun this transition, teasing the Micra supermini as a purely electric car, as well as the highly anticipated next generation Leaf crossover vehicle. Both of these EVs are expected to hit the European market around 2025.

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