Nissan has unveiled a physical model of its 2022 Nissan Max-Out concept at the Japanese brand’s annual Nissan Futures event, providing us with our best look yet at the potential Mazda MX-5 rival.
The Max-Out was first debuted in November 2022 as a part of a future product strategy announcement that should see the brand launch 15 dedicated Nissan EVs by the end of the decade, one of which will be an electric sports car.
Executives say the vehicle’s conception was based on the “fundamental concept of being one with the car” and that the design is intended to “provide a liberating sense of openness” while “offering an enhanced, dynamic driving experience”.
But while the Max-Out concept has successfully made the jump from advanced render to physical model, there’s been no extra information released about its mechanical make-up, let alone confirmation of when we might see a production model.
Still, the emergence of the actual vehicle is a good sign there are at least plans for such a model to come to market, where it would like compete with future (electrified) generations of the Mazda MX-5, the upcoming MG Cyberster and maybe even the next-generation Porsche Boxster EV.
Lurking underneath that futuristic yet retro-looking body is the same CMF-EV platform as the Nissan Ariya battery-electric SUV, with drive coming from a pair of electric motors – one on each axle.
No power, torque, performance or range figures have been released or targeted, but Nissan’s e-4ORCE drive system is said to be good for up to 300kW in its current guise.
The Max-Out’s physical debut was accompanied by a YouTube video showing the low-slung two-door cruising along a virtual beach with the Nissan Surf-Out ute and Nissan Chill-Out SUV concepts.
