Nissan Leaf pickup shows off an ingenious EV-truck combo

No, this is not coming soon to a Nissan dealer near you. "Sparky," as it is known around the Nissan Technical Center in Stanfield, Ariz., was not destined for any auto shows or production. Rather, it's the result of some creative thinking by employees who wanted to flex their building skills and answer the question: Just what would a Nissan Leaf pickup look like anyway?

Joining the same tradition of auto companies employees who mashup models in their spare time, the Nissan Leaf combines pieces of several other Nissan vehicles that were either on hand or destined for the crusher. The bed comes from a Frontier pickup; project managers Arnold Moulinet and Roland Schellenberg kept the bed's length and tailgate, but chopped 10 inches from its width to fit the narrower Leaf body. The rear lights were modified and now include ground-effects LEDs. And the trickiest section — the rear window with power slider — was sawed from a Nissan Titan and blended seamlessly into the Leaf.

Sparky will likely never leave the Arizona test grounds, and I'm sure a sensible payload rating would not be much greater than that of a Costco shopping cart. But the world could always use more El Camino homages, even if they are electric. See below for tips on building your own: