Driving Nissan’s small new Qashqai e-Power hybrid SUV today - only available
on the top-spec Ti grade - $4,200 dearer to the conventional petrol-only Ti at a
rather hefty $56,000 drive-away. Unlike the 1.3-litre turbo petrol models the e-
Power hybrid utilises a variable compression 1.5-litre turbo petrol three-cylinder
engine and it works differently to a conventional hybrid – the petrol engine does
not drive the front 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
through a single speed reduction drive – the drive experience quiet, smooth and
rewarding offering nearly a 1000 km driving range and a stated economy figures
of just 5.2L/100km on the combined city/country cycle – however, I managed
5.9L/100km with mainly city driving. It does however need dearer 95 grade petrol.
Whilst the Nissan Qashqai Ti e-Power offers around a 1L/100km saving over a
conventional petrol model its price penalty is a real dampener to its purchase.
When and if Nissan introduce the e-Power technology onto lower Qashqai grades
it will make more sense. It’s a really nice driver but at the moment, for my money,
the 1.3-litre four-cylinder pure petrol variants are hard to pass.