Nissan’s Twingo-based Wave EV spied ahead of sub-20,000 euro launch

Nissan’s next entry-level electric car has been photographed testing in public for the first time, ahead of a European launch in the first half of 2027 at a price expected to start below 20,000 euros, around NZ$40,000.

Spy photographs published by Spanish outlet Motor.es show a heavily disguised small hatchback that Japanese reports say will be badged Wave. The car is Nissan’s version of the new Renault Twingo, a product of the Renault-Nissan alliance, and will sit below the Micra in Nissan’s European range.

Nissan has not confirmed the name or any specification. Reports indicate the Wave shares the Twingo’s AmpR Small platform, with a 27.5kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, a 60kW front motor and a WLTP range of up to 263km. It is expected to be built alongside the Twingo at Renault Group’s plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. The disguised prototype shows Nissan-specific front-end styling and lamps in the vein of the Micra.

The car targets the sub-20,000-euro segment now occupied by the Leapmotor T03 and BYD Dolphin Surf, as Nissan looks to recover European market share after cancelling the electric Qashqai it had planned as a cornerstone of its recovery.

Nothing has been announced for markets beyond Europe. The Twingo it is based on is built in left-hand drive only at present, and Nissan New Zealand has no small EV in its range. The Wave joins a growing list of small, cheap electric cars revealed in recent weeks, including Suzuki’s e Sky and the European budget model BYD plans from its Racco kei car, most of which are aimed at Europe and Japan first.