Hang on, I’ve heard that name before
You have. Way back in the mists of time… alright, 2009, Nissan made a small, frugal and very affordable compact hatchback — a city car, really — called the Pixo.
It had a tiny 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine producing a riotous (not really…) 68hp, and at the time it was one of the cheapest new cars you could buy. It was produced in partnership with Suzuki, and actually made in India.
So will the new Pixo be the same?
Well, let’s see. Small? Yes. Frugal? Almost certainly. Compact, affordable and a hatchback? Yes, yes, and yes. A tiny petrol engine with 68hp? Not this time.
Why not?
The new Nissan Pixo, as we alluded to above, will be all-electric, and it will share a platform with the Renault Twingo and the Dacia Spring.
So that should mean a 27kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery and a range of around 250km, with an 80hp electric motor driving the front wheels.
Well, those are the specs for the Twingo and the Spring, and we don’t think that the Pixo will deviate too far.
Has Nissan said anything official about the Pixo yet?
Not really. So far, the only official word is: “Small in size yet big in personality, Pixo is the newest addition to Nissan's growing electric vehicle line-up. Created for modern urban life, it combines compact dimensions with intuitive technology and distinctive Nissan design, making everyday city driving easy and enjoyable. Pixo marks Nissan’s return to Europe’s A-segment, bringing customers across the region a new and more accessible option for everyday electric driving.”
What will the Pixo look like?
We don’t know, as the only physical sightings of the Pixo have been of heavily-disguised prototypes. Nissan’s electric car styling doesn’t follow one pattern — the new Leaf is all smooth and sophisticated, the Micra is cute, but tech-y, and the incoming new Juke is just totally wild and looks like a stealth fighter.
We’d expect the Pixo to kind of tread a middle ground between the incredibly cute Twingo and the sturdy and simple Dacia Spring.
When will we know more?
Soon. Nissan will reveal the new Pixo in full on September 23.
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