Nissan debuts its newest electric car: Car giant prepares to launch N7 electric sedan overseas, but will it come to Australia? And when can we expect the new Leaf and Ariya EVs?

Nissan is about to launch its new N7 electric car in China, which it hopes will attract some of the attention away from the country's local brands.

Australia appears to be off the cards for the new EV, despite there being plenty of enthusiasm here for electric cars.

Nissan and joint-venture partner Dongfeng revealed the sleek-looking N7 at the Guangzhou motor show over the weekend, showcasing the first model to be built on the JV’s new modular architecture. 

The N7 is a large sedan 4930mm long, 1896mm wide and 1487mm tall, with smooth lines and a fastback profile. The N7 will have interactive exterior LED lights. At the front are 710 LEDs, while at the rear are 882 OLED units.

Inside, the cabin will feature a next-gen media system, which promises to offer outstanding connectivity thanks to the higher-powered Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P processor.

The N7 will also have an advanced form of autonomous technology with Nissan teaming up with self-driving company Momenta.

Nissan hasn’t revealed any further details regarding motor outputs, battery capacity or driving ranges. We expect to know more soon due to Chinese government regulations which require all car manufacturers to submit specifications that are published ahead of the vehicle going on sale.

In Australia the only electric car sold by Nissan is the Leaf, but this second-generation model arrived in 2017 and production ceased in March this year, leaving Australia to rely on the dwindling stock remaining in the country.

We’ve seen spy images of the third-generation Leaf, but the new EV won’t enter production until 2025 and even then it might not be available to buy in Australia for up to two years.

Australia is also still waiting on Nissan’s all electric Ariya SUV, which according to the Japanese brand was due here this year but was held up from going on sale due to it not meeting Australian Design Rules (ADRs) for a child seat anchor point.

Nissan told us the ADR issue has now been resolved and the Ariya will be available to buy in the second half of 2025. 

China is far and away the biggest market for electric cars and business for EVs is booming with year to date sales for electrified vehicles up by 35 per cent.

Australia is also experiencing its own EV boom with 69,962 fully electric vehicles sold this year, compared to 65,743 this time last year. That’s a 6.5 per cent increase.

The sales are fuelled by the arrival of affordable electric Chinese cars from BYD and MG. BYD’s year-to-date result has increased by 74.4 per cent with the brands Seal proving particularly popular with 5308 sold so far in first full year on sale in Australia.