The next-generation, electric Nissan Juke has been previewed as the firm ramps up to beginning production at its Sunderland factory next year.

Partly shown behind the freshly unwrapped Mk3 Leaf and new electric Micra (below), the new Juke will be closely linked to the current ICE Juke – alongside which it will be built – but take some influence from last year's radical Hyper Punk concept.

It will follow the Leaf down Nissan's UK production line from next year, and a next-generation, electric Qashqai is due to join them in the coming years - although the firm has delayed that car in light of uncertainties about global EV uptake.

Nissan has previously said it's aiming for the Juke EV to cost around the same as the current ICE Juke, which starts at around £21,000, although it has admitted that's a challenge.

The company has yet to give a precise launch timeline but has confirmed that the lifecycle of the current ICE Juke will be extended and it will be produced alongside the Juke EV. 

Nissan has yet to reveal firm details about the Juke EV, although all three future cars for Sunderland are set to use the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's CMF-EV platform, which is designed for C- and D-segment EVs.

That suggests the Juke could potentially grow in size slightly: the current ICE Juke uses the CMF-B platform, which is designed for smaller, B-segment cars. 

While no details of the Juke EV's performance have been given, the new Leaf, to which it's closely related, is set to offer a maximum range in excess of 372 miles.

Despite the Juke, Qashqai and Leaf all sharing a platform and being developed and built alongside each other, Nissan Europe's R&D chief, David Moss, previously said they would retain distinct characters, noting that they would feature different wheelbases. 

He added: “As the size of the car grows, you change its ride and handling characteristics, or if it sits in a different segment, you might change the suspension.

“The beauty of developing three EVs [simultaneously] is the first thing you can look at is 'where do we want to commonise and where don’t we?'. It’s all based around customer expectations and values.”