Nissan’s logo is illuminated on a prototype of its new all-electric Ariya crossover. Nissan’s Z Proto performance car is reflected in the vehicle’s grille, while a redesigned Nissan Pathfinder SUV sits in the background.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Nissan Motor plans to introduce a new type of hybrid to the U.S. market that drives like an all-electric vehicle but is powered — not driven — by a traditional gas-powered engine.
The new Nissan “e-Power” is called a series hybrid. It uses the engine as a generator to power the vehicle’s electric motors that then propel the vehicle. It operates like emerging extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, but has a smaller battery and doesn’t require a plug.
It’s also different from a traditional hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius, because the gas engine in those vehicles is used to propel the vehicle. The series hybrid’s engine just keeps the battery charged to power the electric motors in the vehicles.
The e-Power hybrid system for Nissan is planned to launch domestically later this year in a new version of its popular Rogue compact SUV.
Timing for such a vehicle could be ideal for Nissan with climbing gas prices, slower-than-planned adoption of EVs and an expected surge in hybrid sales amid new entries, according to officials.
After losing billions of dollars on EVs, automakers such as Nissan are turning to hybrid vehicles to meet customer expectations for fuel economy and to help with driving performance.
S&P Global Mobility expects hybrids in the U.S. this year to increase to 18.4% of new vehicle sales, up from 12.6% last year and 7.3% in 2023. It’s forecasting pure EVs, meanwhile, will be 7.1% of new vehicle sales, down from 8% last year.
“This is a unique powertrain for the for the U.S.,” Kurt Rosolowsky, Nissan North America vehicle evaluation and test engineer, said during a media briefing. “This is an electrically driven vehicle, as far as what is powering the wheels, but it doesn’t have a plug, and you fill it up with gas like you do with a normal car.”
Series hybrids
Nissan and other automakers have used series hybrids elsewhere, particularly in Asia, but companies have been reluctant to bring the vehicles to the U.S. because of consumer expectations for driving dynamics and power.
To address those concerns, Nissan said it has developed a more powerful 1.5-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine specifically for the e-Power system, in addition to new packaging and other upgrades, to appease American buyers.
“The turbo is only there to serve efficiency at higher speeds for the gas engine to deliver energy,” Rosolowsky said.
The e-Power for the U.S. market is Nissan’s third generation of the series hybrid since it debuted in Japan in 2016. Since then, Nissan said it has sold more than 1.6 million vehicles globally with e-Power in nearly 70 countries.
“I think it’s going to be a really good system. I think it’s going to be very popular for Nissan in the new Rogue when it arrives later this year,”…
Read More: Nissan’s new hybrid is a U.S.-first that mixes EV driving, gas engine
