Carlos Ghosn predicts Nissan will sell thousands of electric cars

The new Townpod - unveiled at the Paris Motor Show - uses the same battery technology as the Leaf, Nissan's first commercially available zero emissions vehicle that will be built in Sunderland.

But the Townpod has been designed to offer almost infinite variations, allowing owners to mix 'n match specifications to built their own bespoke car.

Charging points can be found in the nose behind an automatically retracting cover, which appears to be backlit thanks to its electric blue painted surrounds reflecting subtly off the car's "Stratosphere White" body paint. Similar electric blue hints are visible behind the door handles, number plate, the spokes of the alloy wheels and within the headlamp pods.

No details of where, or even if, the Townpod will go into production.

However, Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn predicted a bright future for electric vehicles.

"If you look at customer responses you will see that a large niche exists for electric vehicles," he said.

"I believe one-in-ten cars will soon be electrically powered zero emissions. This is going to be a big market for us."