One of the more impressive small SUVs on the market is Nissan’s Qashqai in
four petrol grades and with the recent addition of an e-Power hybrid version, only
available on the top spec Qashqai Ti grade, $4,200 more expensive to the petrol Ti
at a rather hefty $56,000 drive-away. Disappointingly, Nissan, at this stage, are
not introducing the hybrid technology to the lower more affordable grades.
However, the Nissan Qashqai Ti e-Power is packed with premium features –
leather seats with massage function, a panoramic glass roof, 10-speaker Bose
sound, power tailgate and a most impressive digital dash and centre touch
screen plus a suite of advanced active safety features. The 1.3-litre turbo in the
petrol models replaced by a variable compression 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol
turbo – and here the e-Power works differently to a conventional hybrid – the
petrol engine has no connection to the front drive wheels – it purely powers a
generator connected to an invertor and a 2.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack – only
the e-motor drives the front wheels – this hybrid system adds around 200 kilos in
weight over a conventional petrol Qashqai’s but it offers nearly a 1000km driving
range. Despite the e-Power’s exalted price tag the drive experience is rewarding –
details next segment.