• Nissan will produce an adventure-focused electric SUV in Canton, Mississippi starting in 2027 or early 2028.
• I saw it in person, and it looks exactly like the sort of thing that modern buyers want in an SUV.
• It’s got Xterra-inspired styling, but will be more refined and less capable than that body-on-frame truck. So what should Nissan call it?

Nissan’s next electric SUV is the next-generation Leaf, which will launch sometime in the next 12 months. But if you’re like me, its next electric crossover may get you far more excited. Nissan confirmed today that it’s working an adventure-oriented, Xterra-inspired off-road EV. I saw it in person, and it looks fantastic.

Nissan didn’t allow us to take photos at its “Full Speed Ahead” event in Atsugi, Japan, but the company gave a few journalists a look at its full lineup of upcoming products. We saw the next Sentra, the upcoming Leaf, the updated Navara/Frontier, the next-gen Rogue, the Juke EV and the Micra EV, along with other things I can’t mention. But the most compelling product was a roughly Subaru-Outback-sized “adventure EV” with plenty of visual nods to the beloved Xterra.

The SUV will be built in Canton, Mississippi, where the Altima and Frontier are built today. Nissan says it’ll launch in the fiscal year 2027, which—in Japan—runs between April 1, 2027 and March 31, 2028.

The SUV’s outline is visible in one of Nissan’s teaser images, which I’ve cropped in above. But make no mistake, that wasn’t the good version. While every version of this all-electric EV will have a roof rack, the cooler version had an Xterra-like integrated roof basket, knobby all-terrain tires and chunky styling. It also had the Xterra’s asymmetric rear window. It looked like the love child of a Hyundai Santa Fe, Subaru Outback Wilderness and the Xterra itself. I loved it. 

Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1

Nissan’s electric SUV had the same “futuristic box” energy as the new Hyundai Santa Fe, pictured here.

Now, don’t get your hopes up that this is a retread of the old Xterra formula. That was a simple, body-on-frame off-roader aimed at people who wanted something rugged and utilitarian. This is more in the mold of a Ford Bronco Sport or Outback Wilderness, which is why—despite the boxiness—it’s still clearly an everyday crossover. 

“We have to take care of how much we promise by the looks,” Nissan Design Boss Alfonso Albaisa told InsideEVs during a media roundtable, referring to the adventure SUV. “Because, in fact, is that the kind of thing you want to take deep into Oregon and stuff like that? You know, that’s not necessarily the concept. But it’s very true that people are rebelling against the [design] language of conventional EVs.”

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That was the key to this design. Everybody is tired of jelly-bean EVs, and as the American market gobbles up more rugged-looking crossovers and SUVs, there’s an appetite for that on the EV market. The huge amount of love for the Rivian R3 supports that theory. Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan’s Chief Planning Officer for the Americas, said that this is for the sort of people who lust after Rivians today. That puts it up against the R2 and R3, but customers have proven that there’s a deep well of demand for boxier, tougher looking SUVs. 

“We feel that this kind of language would be something desired, a bit more of an authentic SUV look even though it’s not body-on-frame,” Albaisa said. 

But that leaves Nissan with one thorny question to answer. Pandikuthira noted that this is a more premium, refined product than Xterra ever was. And as both he and Albaisa noted, this is not for rock crawling. The idea is to take you down gravel roads, to hiking trails and the like. So, with clear Xterra cues but different positioning and an EV powertrain, can this be an Xterra?

Nissan isn’t sure. Pandikuthira says the name is still up in the air. Xterra is under consideration, but the company is weighing whether that sends the right message. It did, however, up the trademark on the Xterra name in December, per Car and Driver. What do you think? Should this be an Xterra, or is it time for Nissan to establish a new brand for its adventurous EV? Let us know in the comments.

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