Nissan Vice President of Design told us EVs feel faceless so the new LEAF is made to make you smile and celebrate Japan

Nissan Vice President of Design told us in an exclusive interview that EVs feel faceless, so he made sure that the new LEAF is made to make you smile and celebrate Japan with its characteristic smile.

Giovanny Arroba, Nissan’s VP of Design, told us that the team behind the new LEAF wanted the newest model to feel like it has a personality, not just a purpose.

“Nowadays, there are a lot of cars that have no charm, especially EVs seem to be somewhat faceless sometimes and give it that kind of machine quality,” he said.

The automaker’s answer is to build charm into the shape, the graphics, and a bunch of hidden ‘easter eggs’ that reward fans with a little nod and a wink.

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EVs can feel faceless in the wrong hands

In an interview with Supercar Blondie, the Vice President of Nissan Design Europe and the man who led the charge when designing the new Nissan LEAF, Giovanny Arroba said the new Leaf EV is designed to feel friendly.

The EV has a smile, and not an aggressive faceless feel.

“We wanted to give this car a character and not a scowling, angry face either,” he told us.

“The LEAF has a smile.”

That idea comes from how people actually relate to cars.

“Cars have a soul and a spirit and a personality,” Arroba said, pointing out that ‘people name cars.’

Even in an EV era where tech and efficiency matter more than ever, he still believes there is joy in the experience.

“There’s still romance to the automobile, and driving for the sake of driving,” he told us.

At the same time, the design team is aiming for broad appeal:

“With the LEAF, we really wanted to hit the core of the market and hit a kind of sweet spot, almost the Goldilocks zone,” Arroba said.

“We’re very conscious about the price.”

The Nissan LEAF is made to celebrate Japan and provide miles of smiles

Arroba said the automaker has been leaning more intentionally into its Japanese roots.

“It’s the right time to celebrate the fact that Nissan is a Japanese company,” he told us, but without going overboard.

“We want to make sure we don’t do things too literally,” he said, because the ‘gimmicky part’ is something the team actively avoids.

Instead, Nissan has woven Japan into the LEAF through small, clever ‘Easter eggs’.

One is the recurring ‘Ni-san’ motif, based on how ‘two’ is ni and ‘three’ is san in Japanese, with subtle ‘2-3’ patterns appearing throughout the car as a nod to the brand name.

There are also Kasumi monyo cloud patterns, a traditional symbol of elegance, placed in three locations as a quiet reference to Japanese artistry.

And ginkgo leaves, Tokyo’s official tree, tucked inside and outside the vehicle, with two inside and one outside.

“It’s a lot like the inside of your blazer, with a fun pattern inside the lining, ” Arroba said, where only you know the detail is there.

“We started to think [about] how we can put these little Easter eggs [in the EV] that make owning the car a bit fun and bring a bit of a smile to your face.”

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