Nissan Motor has announced it is no longer going ahead with plans to produce two new EVs at its Canton plant in Mississippi from late 2028 / early 2029. It will instead examine the production of hybrid SUVs at the plant from 2028.
Nissan’s original plans to produce EVs at the plant in 2028 had already been pushed back by up to a year due to a fall in demand. In April 2025, the company pushed back the schedules for two electric crossovers, the PZ1K and the PZ1J, to 2028, and scrapped plans for two planned electric sedans and an earlier, smaller electric SUV.
U.S. tax credit is gone
All of this is, of course, a reaction to the suspension of the federal tax credit on certain EV purchases in the USA. Now, the Nissan plans have been shelved indefinitely, meaning Nissan Group will not build any electric models in the US at all.
It will, however, continue to sell EVs in the U.S., specifically the Nissan Leaf, which is produced at a factory in Japan. The company aims to expand exports of this model to boost its American EV sales further.
It will also continue to sell Nissan Ariya EVs from the 2025 model year in North America, despite opting not to invest in a 2026 model year due to uncertain demand.
In the meantime, there’s the question of the Canton plant. Nissan now believes that hybrids and ICE-powered vehicles will see stronger growth in the US over the coming years, so it will focus on hybrids. No details yet on what these hybrid SUVs will look like.
Leaf recall in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Nissan is facing a significant recall of the current Leaf, affecting more than 19,000 vehicles. The recall affects model years 2021-2022, because the battery may overheat during fast charging.
The recall only affects models that are equipped with a Level 3 quick charging port. Nissan said the battery may overheat during fast charging.
After an investigation, Nissan found that Leaf models built between November 3, 2020, and May 23, 2022, at its Smyrna Assembly plant, may have an issue with excessive lithium deposits within the battery cells. If that happens, the increased electrical resistance can cause the battery to overheat or catch fire during Level 3 charging.
Nissan is preparing a software update to fix the issue. Once it’s ready, Nissan said owners of affected vehicles will be notified. The letters are expected to be mailed out, starting on October 24, 2025. Dealers will update the battery software at no additional charge. Until it’s ready, Nissan is urging owners not to use Level 3 quick charging.
