‘SOUPED UP’. ‘Breathed on’. ‘Tweaked’. Yes, all these and a bit more have happened to Nissan’s all-new Leaf electric vehicle.

By NISMO, Nissan’s motorsports and in-house tuning division.

And why not? Green doesn’t have to be dull, worthy, boring (it isn’t anyway, by the way). BMW has recently made upgraded its i3 electric vehicle with a sporting i3s version, for example.

And Nissan is looking to put some ooomph into its Leaf with this Leaf NISMO Concept, which will be shown at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month (Oct 27-Nov 05).

So what has NISMO done to shake up the Leaf? There’s enhanced aerodynamic performance which produces less lift, while the soothing black interior with blue highlights has been pushed aside for NISMO’s signature red accents, to reflect the high-performance feel of the car.

• New Nissan Leaf – find out more New Nissan Leaf goes 235 miles on a single charge

But it’s not just looks. NISMO has provided a sport-tuned suspension, bolted on some high-performance tyres, and tuned the car’s computer to deliver faster speed delivery and the on-road experience you would expect from a NISMO tuned car.

So will we see the NISMO Leaf Concept as a fully realised production vehicle? No news yet – we’ll have to wait until the Tokyo Show to find out more.

But an EV that drives like a hot hatch but has zero emissions, and company car tax as low as 2% by 2020/21 and…well, sounds like a winning package to us. Bring it on Nissan!