Nissan has unveiled the new Juke as its fourth EV, a car that it says will “help us reach new customers”, thanks to its radical new exterior design.

The quirky SUV is Nissan's second best-seller in Europe after the Qashqai, with more than 1.5 million examples sold since the original was launched in 2010.

The third-generation Juke, unveiled early this morning at the brand’s future-looking Vision Event in Japan, is based on Nissan’s CMF-EV platform and so powered exclusively by electricity.

It will share much of its underpinnings with the smaller Leaf EV, alongside which it will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland factory.

The Japanese firm’s answer to the Ford Puma Gen-E and Kia EV3 sports a “reimagining” of the Juke’s heavily sculptured and distinctive design, as previewed by 2024’s radical Hyper Punk concept. It also features its own light signature at the front and rear.

As its predecessors have done since 2010 with their “bold designs” that “challenge convention”, the new Juke will “help us reach new customers” within the EV market, said regional product boss Clíodhna Lyons.

However, in an effort to continue catering for as many customers as possible, the new Juke will be sold alongside an updated version of the current second-generation Juke hybrid.

Nissan originally planned to replace the Mk2 with the Mk3, but slower-than-expected EV sales growth made this move financially untenable.

However, Nissan Europe boss Massimiliano Messina was steadfast in confirming that the brand “remain firmly committed to a fully electric future", saying the decision to offer both powertrains brings “greater choice” to buyers while helping to “accelerate our transition to zero-emission mobility”.

Expected updates for the Mk2 Juke, which is also manufactured at Sunderland, are expected to concentrate on aligning its design with the Mk3. Its technology, now seven years old, is also due a refresh.

Details of what underpins the new Juke have yet to be confirmed, but it's expected to mirror the Leaf. That car offers either a 52kWh or 75kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery for up to 386 miles of range; power tops out at 215bhp; and, unlike in the larger Ariya EV, drive is sent exclusively to the front wheels.

Nissan Europe's R&D boss, David Moss, previously hinted that the new Juke could feature a bespoke chassis set-up that would help distinguish it from the technically identical Leaf and emphasise its more 'dynamic' character. This differentiation is particularly relevant given that the Leaf has morphed from a hatchback into a crossover that's very similar in size to the Juke.

Nissan isn’t worried about the pair stepping on each other’s toes, however. Its chief performance officer Guillaume Cartier told Autocar previously that their buyers "are a totally different profile, with nothing in common” because they occupy completely “different customer bubbles”. He said that the Juke is a “Marmite” car and one that “will not be compared to anything else”.

The new Juke was designed, engineered and developed in the UK, Spain and Germany, which Nissan said “underlines [its] long-term investment in Europe as both a production and innovation hub.”

Build trials at Sunderland will begin in the coming weeks, ahead of full production commencing in early 2027. Sales will then begin in the spring.