After Nissan announced plans to exit the full-size pickup segment in 2024, rumors have continued to circulate about the automaker’s consideration of a light-duty electric truck. While the Japanese automaker doesn’t expect to enter the electric pickup market anytime soon, company executives say Nissan will eventually need to go electric in the truck segment.
During the Japan Mobility Show on Wednesday, Nissan Global Product Strategy Executive Ivan Espinosa told Automotive News that the automaker plans to continue investing in a future pickup. However, Espinosa says an electric pickup won’t hit the market anytime soon — despite the company’s continued investments.
“One thing you can be sure about is we’re going to keep investing in the truck segment,” Espinosa said. “How do we evolve … is the question that we are discussing internally. Eventually, we will have to electrify the truck.”
Despite the statements, Espinosa refused to formally comment on product plans. Instead, he pointed to the fact that U.S. automakers have been hard to beat in the full-size pickup market.
“You have competitors doing 700,000 trucks a year,” Espinosa said. “So it’s a bit of a difficult space to play now.”
Nissan sold 76,183 Frontier mid-size trucks in the U.S. last year, so a future electric Frontier wouldn’t seem beyond the automaker’s long-term ambitions.
However, electric pickups won’t be the first EVs to roll out, according to Espinosa. Additionally, previous rumors have suggested that the automaker wouldn’t bring an electric pickup to market until 2030.
“The demand for electrification is concentrating today much more on the C-SUV and D-SUV [segments],” Espinosa added. “These are the ones that you will start seeing rolling into first. And I see trucks a little bit on the later stage.”
I really hope the future of cars is actually close to the concept cars big auto makes. Look at this Nissan car just unveiled here in Tokyo. #nissan #JapanMoblityShow pic.twitter.com/Nwga7qTrV1
— WHAT'S INSIDE? (@whatsinside) October 25, 2023
The statements come as the electric pickup segment emerges with new contributions like the Rivian R1T and the forthcoming Tesla Cybertruck, as well as larger electrified trucks from Ford, Chevrolet and GMC, among others. It also comes as Nissan has unveiled a few concept EVs at Japan Mobility, including the above-pictured Nissan Hyper Force.
Along with ending production of the Titan in 2024, Nissan has announced plans to phase out the Leaf electric vehicle (EV), which was one of the earliest battery-electric cars to be introduced to global markets.
The automaker has also faced production stalls and other issues with the production of the Nissan Ariya, though it increased the number of EVs it hopes to debut by 2030 to 19 from 15 earlier this year.
With plans to make 40 percent of its sales fully electric in the U.S. by 2030 and a renewed ambition in the EV space, many have speculated around the subject of an electric pickup from the automaker. Nissan was also reportedly considering the idea of a Titan EV back in 2020, though the automaker will now exit the full-size pickup market with the Titan ending production next year.
Nissan Dealer Board Chairman Tyler Slade told Automotive News a few months ago that the automaker would want to make a $40,000 electric pickup rather than competing directly with more expensive, larger EV trucks.
“They don’t want to be in the Rivian or the [Tesla] Cybertruck space,” Slade said. “They want to be in the affordable $40,000 range.”
Tesla and Nissan agree to NACS compatibility in most recent adoption
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Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
