Ken Lee, Nissan’s senior design director explains that for the Navara Pro PHEV, it was very important for them to honor the brand’s truck history while also essentially ushering it to a new era. To that end, he explained that it was important to have plenty of truck people who worked in both the design and engineering teams to bring this mid-sized pickup truck to life.

Lee says that for the Navara Pro PHEV, it was important for Nissan to develop it at a rapid pace to make sure that they bring it in a timely manner for the market. While the engineering team set the performance and durability benchmarks, the design team worked together to re-capture Nissan’s unbreakable and go anywhere spirit. Thus, they looked at the D21 (aka Hardbody or the Power Eagle to Filipinos) for inspiration. The Navara Pro PHEV reinterprets it in two ways: the three-slot horizontal louvers (aka mail slots) now imagined as a lightbar and, of course, the V-Motion grille.

At the same time, Lee admits that there’s a pivot in the way pickup trucks are using their vehicles on a day-to-day basis. Instead of simply being a tough and reliable workhorse, there’s a growing segment for lifestyle pickup trucks. Thus, it’s become important for vehicles such as Navara Pro PHEV to double as a comfortable family vehicle. To that end, it had to be outfitted with technologies that buyers expect like large touchscreens. The main challenge here, Lee says, it to make it warm and welcoming.

In that regard, Nissan paid close attention to make sure the materials chosen are all upscale and that the driving position is ergonomic. Lee even pulled out the term, “Japanese craftsmanship” in describing the Navara Pro PHEV’s interior.

These are thoughts shared by Antonio Lopez, Nissan’s Chief Product Specialist. Although he specializes more in Nissan (and Infiniti’s) full-size frame vehicles, Lopez has Nissan blood coursing through his veins. His father worked for 42 years at Nissan as did his uncle. His older brother also works at Nissan too.

Lopez understands that the Navara Pro PHEV has to be competitive, but at the same time, be in lockstep with the customer’s needs and wants. It’s this balance that Nissan’s first PHEV pickup truck had to achieve.

It has to offer authentic 4x4 capability, explains Lopez. Instead of simply having an electric all-wheel drive system like some of its competitors offer, the Navara Pro PHEV sticks to a tried-and-tested mechanical 4x4 system with low-range gearing and an electronic rear locking differential. This means that even if the entire PHEV system is disabled, the four-wheel drive will continue to function.

At the same time, it’s important that the Navara Pro PHEV live up to being a lifestyle pickup truck. To that end, it copies a trick pioneered by the diesel-powered Navara D23: a rear multi-link coil-spring suspension.

Lopez also says that while they also explored at shoehorning in an e-Power powertrain into the Navara Pro PHEV, it simply wouldn’t match the performance criteria they had in mind. These criteria include targets surrounding payload, towing, low-range crawling capabilities during off-road conditions, and even cruising at high speed on the highway or over long distances.

Recognizing that China is at the forefront of fast-paced vehicle development, especially in the field of electrified vehicles, Nissan wanted to leverage that for the Navara Pro PHEV. During the Navara Pro PHEV’s development, Nissan engineers worked alongside their counterparts from Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile. As a result, the Navara Pro PHEV was developed just over the course of two years.

It’s for that reason Nissan opted to choose a turbocharged 1.5-liter paired with a powerful permanent magnet synchronous motor. All in all, it’ll offer around 435 horsepower and 800 Nm of torque combined. Beyond the raw figures, it also gives instant torque and the confidence to go further with its large fuel tank (and generous high-voltage battery).

To learn more about the Nissan Navara Pro PHEV, check it out here or visit any of the Nissan EV dealerships.