Nissan has confirmed that its new one-tonne pickup truck, the Navara, is due in Australia in 2026.
Nissan’s chairperson for the AMEIO region of the brand, Guillaume Cartier, told media in Abu Dhabi that electrifying the Navara will be a “two-step approach”.
“First, it will be a PHEV solution, then later on it will be EV”, Mr Cartier said.
However, before the two stage approach begins, Cartier confirmed that the Navara will initially launch with diesel power.
The current Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior
It’s expected that the electrified Navara will be based heavily off the current Triton ute in 2026 and will share PHEV technologies with Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi Australia has already told Chasing Cars that “PHEV and other forms of hybridisation are under study for Triton” but we still aren’t sure which technology Mitsubishi will use.
Nissan executives also said in Abu Dhabi that the brand is working through the development of solid-state battery technologies for Navara further down the line, but we might not see a full electric Navara until later this decade.
A new Nissan Navara is coming!
What could the PHEV powertrain be for Navara?
Set to be developed with Mitsubishi, the plug-in hybrid powertrain is likely to be a petrol engine, and could be very similar to what is already found in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – a 2.4-litre petrol engine supported by dual electric motors.
The Outlander uses a 20kWh battery to provide up to 84km of all-electric range, but the Triton/Navara PHEV could have a bigger battery, perhaps as large as 35kWh, to deal with the higher energy demands of a ute without compromising on electric range.
The engine bay of the Outlander PHEV
Other electrified utes coming to Australia
While GWM was the first to bring a series-parallel hybrid ute to our Australian market with the GWM Cannon Alpha, BYD will be the first automaker to introduce a plug-in hybrid ute.
BYD’s Shark ute will use a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine mated to two electric motors to produce 320kW of power. The Shark is expected in Australia by the end of 2024.
The upcoming BYD Shark ute
Ford will also beat the Navara PHEV to market and has already confirmed it is bringing a plug-in hybrid Ranger ute to Australia in 2025. It’ll use a 2.3-litre Ecoboost turbo petrol engine mated with an electric motor to produce at least 250kW/650Nm. Exact figures are yet to be announced, but are expected soon.
Isuzu and LDV are also working to bring hybrid and pure-electric versions of their respective utes to market in the near future.