The Nissan Hyper Adventure Concept Suggests an Angled Future for Electric SUVs
The active lifestyle—think kayaks on the roof, puffy Patagonia jackets, a cup of coffee steaming in hand outside a tent pitched underneath a jagged ridgeline—sells. Look at how the popular Outback and Crosstrek nameplates, once synonymous with adventure-oriented vehicular aspirations, have birthed even more outdoorsy variants in their Wilderness guises. Not one to leave this highly marketable image to others, the Nissan Hyper Adventure Concept is an electric SUV that aims to embrace the Great Outdoors in a way that the brand’s current EV, the Ariya, isn’t designed to.
At least, a future EV inspired by the Hyper Adventure Concept might. Given the push for battery-electric vehicle adoption and the enduring appeal of SUVs, it’s not exactly rocket surgery to suggest that future Nissan EVs will take SUV forms.
Consider whatever will replace the gas and PHEV Nissan Rogue in the heart of the compact SUV space: Will it attempt to embody all-terrain experiences to distinguish itself from the more upscale Ariya? Almost certainly. So what we’re seeing here in the Hyper Adventure Concept seems to be Nissan thinking out loud about another direction to go in the EV SUV space—something more akin to the upcoming Kia EV5.
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The thoughts Nissan is having are interesting, if not necessarily feasible for production. The trussed, open-backed seats are pure designer fantasy, as is the angular abstraction of the dash. But fantasies birth ideas that can influence future product, so let ’em cook. Not to mention this looks way closer to a consumer product than the last round of Nissan fantasy EV concepts, with unusual names and even sillier features.
Besides the angular shape—note the jutting “chin,” an evolution of the Ariya’s basic shape and perhaps a harbinger of a future Nissan EV hallmark—there are a few nifty if fantastical ideas here. The wheels and tires are fitted with “crampons”—not the metal spikes you’d attach to boots, but apparently snow-biting grooves that run from the wheel face to the tires. The rear seat flips vertically to face from front to back, for rear-facing seating, sаy, to take in a mountain vista with a cup of coffee in hand. And the big traction battery can act as a house battery to power the lights for car camping or even recharge electric recreational equipment. (Many EVs offer a utility mode like this, but it’s a useful feature, so it’d be more shоcking if a future outdoor-oriented Nissan didn’t offer it.)
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Nissan is showing off the Hyper Adventure concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, but you can bet it’ll be at a future North American auto show in the future, in case you’d like to take a peek at Nissan’s vision for what comes next in person.
