The Little Electric Nissan We Wish Was Sold In America
The Nissan Leaf was one of the first modern electric vehicles to see widespread adoption in the United States, and for good reason. It's compact, easy to live with, and not that expensive, at least compared to something from Tesla or a huge SUV from General Motors. What if you could go even smaller? Like really small? Enter the Nissan Sakura. It's shaped like a loaf of bread and adorable, to use a technical term. Here's the kicker, however — it is not for sale in the United States and likely won't be anytime soon.
Before you learn what the Sakura is, you need to learn what it isn't. The Sakura is not the fastest EV out there like the Rimac Nevara. It doesn't have the most range like a Lucid Air, and it likely won't be the best companion on a camping trip like a Rivian. However, it is shaped like a box and comes in a bunch of fun colors. For those reasons, it may be time to petition Nissan to at least give the U.S. market a chance.
A small and cheap EV
As far as range is concerned, Nissan Japan lists it an estimated 180 kilometers (about 111 miles) from its 20 kWh battery, which would make it perfect for daily excursions and almost useless for road trips. However, 100 and change miles of range is absolutely nothing to sneeze at if all you're doing is commuting a few miles a day. Nissan also notes that a full charge using a fast charger takes about 40 minutes. Its single electric motor produces a grand total of 63 horsepower, which can propel it to a top speed of about 80 miles per hour, which really isn't awful for a car that's barely over 11 feet long.
Nissan prices the base model of the Sakura at 2,333,100 yen, which translates to around $15,600, which would make it the cheapest EV for sale in the United States and the cheapest new car period, beating out the Nissan Versa, which is priced at $16,130. In all seriousness, a car that can just about barely reach over highway speed and has a range of just over 100 miles might not sell too well in the United States, but a sub-$20,000 EV with good looks to boot is certainly not a bad thing.