New Nissan Concept 20-23 Previews Future EV Hot-Hatch

Nissan is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Nissan Design Europe (NDE) studio in London – the design studio that was in-charge of designing some of the marque’s concept models. To celebrate its two-decade milestone, NDE has put up yet another design concept, cordially named as the Nissan Concept 20-23.

While it may sound simple on the surface, the Concept 20-23’s name actually reflects 20 years of NDE being based in the UK’s capital, while the ‘23’ is referring to both the current year (2023), as well as Nissan’s traditional number (ni-san).

Nissan Concept 20-23 all-electric hot hatch

This latest design study envisions a sporty and extreme-looking EV hot-hatch, featuring some track-style aero part of which it’s drawn inspiration from the marque’s Formula E cars, while paying homage to some of Nissan’s iconic hot-hatches of the past, notably the Nissan March.

While its design is somewhat extreme as concept cars go, the brief given by Nissan to the NDE team was quite simple – design a car that would look nice driving in the streets of London, with no holds barred.

The Nissan Concept 20-23 gets a slew of aggressive, track-style aero parts

As a result, the Concept 20-23 stood as a three-door EV hatch with extreme aerodynamic parts and rounded body style that harkens back to the aforementioned old Nissan hatch model. Said aero parts include its aggressive front lip, the deep side skirts, flared-out wheel arches with vented louvres for better brake cooling. Snugged within its flared-out wheel wells are snazzy motorsport-style wheels shod in low-profile Pirelli P Zero performance tyres.

At the rear, the Concept 20-23 gets a massive roof-mounted rear spoiler, while the lower tailgate part sports a massive racing-style rear diffuser with side vents that are connected to the rear wheel arches, allowing hot air to exit from the rear wheels and brakes. Also equally radical are the Concept 20-23’s headlights and taillights design, featuring thin LED rings inspired from the March’s rounded headlights.

Other key exterior design bits include the scissor-style door aperture that hinge upwards from the base of the A-pillar, unique flat grey exterior hue with a textured finish and number ‘23’ decals, side mirror cameras instead of conventional mirrors, as well as a roof scoop designed to provide additional ventilation inside the cabin.

As expected, the Concept 20-23 gets racecar-style cabin with brace bars and roll cages

On board, the Concept 20-23 boasts a pretty bare-boned cabin design, as per any track-oriented cars. Key track equipment include a brace bar that runs across the door openings, two deep racing buckets with a large headrest, as well as racing-style steering yoke with multiple controls and buttons that is bolted on an extended and adjustable steering column.

Aside from that the cabin also features a dual-screen layout, though we can’t really locate them in these interior images. Meanwhile, its central console comes with grab bars that help passengers to jump in-and-out of this car easily, with a fire extinguisher planted below it.

In spite of its track-oriented, bare-boned nature, the cabin is nicely wrapped in textured upholstery material finished in light grey hue, while some parts like the door armrests and roofliner are laced with a darker-hued material instead.

Though Nissan has yet to unveil its future plans with the Concept 20-23, we'd reckon it'll make a stellar production EV hot hatch...

Unfortunately, Nissan does not reveal any details regarding the powertrain spec of this concept EV hot-hatch, as well as its future plans with this model. But regardless of whether it'll carry Nissan EV powertrain or borrow from the upcoming Renault 5 EV, we’d reckon it will serve as a basis for future EV models, perhaps an all-electric successor to the March or Micra that’ll go against several future EV hatches like the Volkswagen ID.GTI and Renault-owned Alpine A290.