YOKOSUKA, Japan — Nissan Motor Co. whiffed on the U.S. hybrid boom with the first two iterations of its innovative e-Power hybrid system. Now it hopes for success the third time with the Rogue crossover.
Executives showed a more efficient, quieter and cheaper third-generation e-Power system here May 26, saying it was reengineered partly with American highways and drivers in mind.
The new drivetrain lands in the U.S. in a redesigned, fourth generation of Nissan’s bestselling Rogue midsize crossover due in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027.
Europe gets a first taste in September when the third-gen e-Power debuts there in the popular Qashqai compact crossover. And next year, it arrives in Japan in the Elgrand van.
The e-Power breakthrough comes through a host of improvements. Most are in the engine, but the updated system also leverages a compact, less costly electric drive unit.
The overhaul has been more than five years in the making, executives said at a test drive and technical briefing at the company’s Oppama proving ground south of its Yokohama headquarters.
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“This is clearly one of our most important technologies,” said Chief Technology Officer Eiichi Akashi, who took over as global R&D chief from Kunio Nakaguro on April 1.
Where does Nissan sell its e-Power hybrid technology?
Getting e-Power right for the U.S. market is job No. 1 for Akashi.
Its arrival in the Rogue addresses Nissan’s critical lack of gasoline-electric hybrids in the U.S. at a time when other companies, such as rivals Toyota and Honda, have benefited from their surging popularity. Applying e-Power to the Rogue also gives Nissan the biggest bang for its buck.
The nameplate is Nissan’s No. 1-seller and ranked No. 9 overall in U.S. sales last year.
Nissan introduced its series-hybrid e-Power drivetrain in 2016 in Japan.
It uses a small engine that acts as an electricity generator to charge a lithium ion battery. The battery then powers an electric motor, which directly turns the wheels.
In hybrid-crazy Japan, the setup has been a hit. Nissan has deployed it in four nameplates — the X-Trail crossover, Serena minivan, Kicks subcompact crossover and Note hatchback. It was later introdcued to Europe in the X-Trail and Qashqai, and in China in the Sylphy sedan and X-Trail.
To date, Nissan has produced 1.68 million e-Power vehicles and sells them in 68 countries.
But an e-Power launch in the U.S., the Japanese carmaker’s biggest and most important market, was long put on hold over concerns about its fuel economy at highway speeds and its reception by American customers unfamiliar with the gasoline-electric technology.
Only with the third generation finally on the horizon did former CEO Makoto Uchida announce last year that Nissan would bring the long-awaited hybrid system to the U.S. in the Rogue.
How did Nissan improve e-Power for the Rogue and Qashqai?
The new setup achieves a 15 percent fuel economy boost in highway driving and a 9 percent improvement in the city, Nissan says. It also delivers a much quieter driving experience thanks to an new electric powertrain unit that combines five components into one compact module.
The biggest gains come from rethinking e-Power’s gasoline engine.
The second-generation e-Power system uses an off-the-shelf 1.5-liter, three-cylinder variable combustion ratio turbocharged engine, called the VC-Turbo. Engineers kept the base engine but swapped in a larger turbocharger geared toward efficiency rather than engine response.
Next, Nissan engineers crucially ditched the variable compression technology. Doing so sacrifices torque and fuel economy at lower engine speeds. But those duties are picked up by the electric motor, which accelerates the car from rest and delivers good low-end torque.
The trade-off is a broader range of more efficient engine operation at higher speeds. This improves the engine’s thermal efficient to around 43 percent, helping it run longer on less fuel.
In essence, the new e-Power engine was retuned to become a better electricity generator. And dropping variable compression has the added benefit of shedding parts, cost and weight. All these upgrades help improve performance on high-speed, long-distance U.S. freeways, Nissan said.
How will Nissan market its new e-Power Rogue and Qashqai?
The new e-Power setup carries over the second-generation’s same basic battery and electric motor. The Qashqai’s system is made up of a 140-kilowatt motor and 1.8-kilowatt-hour battery.
But the new 5-in-1 setup combines the motor, inverter, generator, reducer and increaser.
By integrating multiple electric drivetrain components into a single module, Nissan replaces a bulky, bolt-on approach used in today’s vehicles. The new electric powertrain unit, supplied by transmission maker Jatco Ltd., cuts weight, boosts efficiency and reduces noise and vibration.
Nissan didn’t disclose cost savings. But Shunichi Inamijima, corporate executive for powertrain and EV technologies, said it shaves more than 10 percent off the second-generation.
In a test drive of the second- and third-generation e-Power systems in a Qashqai, the newer system was noticeably quieter and smoother under aggressive acceleration — a time when the electric motor is turning the wheels but the engine is also engaged to rapidly replenish the battery.
That quick and quiet pickup will be a key part of the sales pitch to Americans, executives said.
It will be a hybrid that drives like an electric vehicle, with all the EV’s quietude and spunky torque, but without the EV’s nagging range anxiety because a fill-up is as close as the nearest gasoline station.
“E-Power is different because it is derived from EV technology and drives like an EV,” Akashi said. “Customers who feel an EV is inconvenient can use it with gasoline. Its unique value is this.”
Compared with conventional hybrids, e-Power’s engine runs only half the time, he said.
When Nissan first publicly outlined its plans for the 5-in-1 electric drive unit in 2023, executives said it would enable the company to achieve price parity between its internal-combustion offerings and its e-Power hybrid offerings in 2026. Inamijima is now backtracking on that outlook.
The third-gen e-Power still faces a price gap with cheaper all-gasoline variants, he said. That is because of rising raw material costs for the rare earth elements in their batteries and electric motors.
“We still want to realize cost parity as soon as possible,” Inamijima said.
What is the new timeline?
“No comment,” he said.
