Nissan turns over a new leaf with Qashqai ePower

Until now, Nissan’s association with electric vehicles would conjure up memories of the Leaf, revealed in South Africa at the 2011 Johannesburg Motor Show, followed by its local launch the following year. 

It was the first time any original equipment manufacturer (OEM) had offered an electric vehicle as part of its line-up. Novel and innovative, the Leaf was ahead of its time in the local market, which demanded more from a car, irrespective of what powered it.

That was more than a decade ago and, in that time, the world has changed. The South African market is more accepting of electric cars than ever before and Nissan’s electrification strategy has shifted to allow for a more measured approach that will, in my estimation, yield greater results than any of its counterparts.

Nissan flew us to the Swedish capital Stockholm to give us the full measure of its global electrification plan. Why Sweden? Because the Swedes rank among the highest adopters of battery electric vehicles worldwide. Over 55% of Swedish car-buyers choose electric over the internal-combustion engine (ICE) options, a far cry from South Africa. This is why Nissan’s strategy involves a two-part approach to transitioning from ICE to electric cars.

The plan starts with hybrid technology and something called “e-power” before eventually moving into the full electric vehicle (EV) sphere. More on that later. We won’t focus on hybrid technology because right now it’s not relevant to our market, and also hybrid tech is nothing we haven’t seen before.

Let’s focus on Nissan e-power, an entirely new powertrain developed by Nissan as a stop-gap alternative to purely petrol or diesel engines.

Nissan’s first vehicle outside Japan to employ e-power is the Nissan Qashqai, the brand’s bread-and-butter crossover that does well the world over. 

E-power, as the name suggests, makes use of an electric motor to drive the wheels — but the key difference is how that electric motor is fed. The technical arrangement of the powertrain includes a 1.5-litre, three-pot turbo-petrol engine that sits up front right beside the 140kW electric motor. In the middle of the platform is an inverter, and a power generator and battery pack finish the arrangement at the rear of the vehicle. 

Here’s how it all works — stay with me. The electric motor is solely responsible for driving the wheels at any given time. The petrol engine is there to generate electricity, which can be sent to the battery pack to charge it, or sent directly to the electric motor, or both, depending on the use at the time. It sounds complex, I know, because, in a sense, it’s drastically different to any other powertrain, mild hybrids included.

Wondering how it all fits into the platform? This is a family-orientated offering, right? Yes, that’s right. Good question. The Qashqai is a purpose-built platform, designed specifically with this in mind, and the components are kept small to ensure the interior and boot space aren’t compromised. They aren’t. 

Of course, the e-power adds weight, about 200kg over the front axle alone, so Nissan has had to deal with this by re-tuning the suspension and steering, sizing up the bushes and brakes and letting the car ride on 18” wheels. Anything smaller wouldn’t accommodate the brakes. The reality from the wheel shows fettling actually works. 

It is every bit the electric car experience with 330Nm of torque on tap from the moment you arch your right foot forward. It feels adequately powerful and sprightly. As a start, this is all good news.

Regenerative braking plays its part in maximising energy but also in slowing down the car. Use the car in normal “D” mode and the engine braking feels fairly normal, that is, like any internal combustion car when you ease off the throttle. 

Slot the shifter into “B” mode and you’ll feel regen braking for sure — 0.1g to be exact — but you can up the ante by pressing the e-pedal button on the console, which will hike things up to 0.2g. You can use this ably in urban traffic but note that regen braking will slow the car down but not bring it to a complete stop. 

I found it considerably more difficult using the e-pedal feature on open highways because the braking force is just too much to make it a smooth and seamless drive.

Beyond the instant-torque benefits of the electric motor, the driving experience is also suitably refined due to the lack of engine noise. The petrol motor does start up from time to time, and you’ll hear and feel it, but in a subdued manner. 

Nissan used some clever active noise-cancelling tech to dull the sound of the petrol engine. Another feature Nissan has worked on is a rev-matching trick called Linear Tune. Essentially, Nissan believed its customers would find it odd to hear an engine running in the background that wasn’t making normal sounds related to the speed or demands of the car. If the car is accelerating hard, Nissan has worked in a little rise in engine revs to mimic that of an accelerating ICE car. It reads like a mind-trick worthy of criticism but I can confirm nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me, despite me knowing this before I drove the car.

The other coup of this e-power tech is that it doesn’t lose the argument regarding range anxiety, the single biggest apprehension about electric cars. The trip computer suggested we would travel over 950km on a single 55-litre tank of petrol. I can confirm this isn’t an over-quoted manufacturer’s figure. This is my figure and it’s spot-on with Nissan’s 5.3l/100km claim. It’s possible, given our experience in the car.

So, the Nissan Qashqai e-PWR is fully electric but requires no plugging in and will go further than any hybrid or electric car on sale in SA right now in the same segment — and match the most efficient diesel powertrains, which are slowly making an exit from many line-ups. It’s all good, isn’t it? Yes, it does seem  that way. 

Nissan calls this a “conquest powertrain”, one that’s designed to capture a large share of the market, educate that market about the joys of electric, without the pitfalls of electric, and then, hopefully, retain that market for a switch to pure electric in the future. 

We can only speculate, as Nissan has, on the adoption of full EVs in South Africa in the future. Navigating market trends, political standpoints and infrastructure improvement is as much of a guess as wondering when the power is going to come back on during load-shedding.

The Qashqai was a solid choice to launch the e-PWR. The car that started the crossover craze has been missing out lately, given the size of the upper C segment. This new Qashqai ticks all the boxes. From the images on this page, you can see it continues the strong brand features of desirable styling and crossover appeal — with the unique drive concept in addition. 

But it also rides with a new level of refinement and boasts fresh interior architecture and technology that’ll see it at the very top of the segment.

Nissan SA has confirmed that the Qashqai e-PWR will make its way to South Africa next year. It officially launches in European markets this month and I’d imagine the car will land here soon thereafter, stock and logistics issues notwithstanding. 

Expect the high-spec Tekna versions to be loaded with Nissan’s latest tech, such as the Pro-Pilot driving assistance; the large 12.3” customisable infotainment display, digital driver’s cluster and large head-up display. From my observation, this is a significant step up in material and ergonomic design.

Qashqai, as a product, has always done well for Nissan and that’s likely to continue. All that remains to be seen is whether pricing will work in favour of consumers. 

From my point of view, this is a winner indeed.