The popular Nissan Qashqai has been electrified with the brand’s new e-Power system, but does this mean the family SUV has all the electric car benefits with none of the long charging times?…
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Up until now, the popular Nissan Qashqai has gone without offering some form of electric drive, with this family SUV sticking to conventional petrol and diesel engines and shunning any form of hybrid or plug-in hybrid power.
The introduction of this e-Power model into the range is about to change all that, supplementing the regular Qashqai’s 136 and 156hp 1.3-litre turbo petrol engines. The way it goes about the whole electrified process is very different from its hybrid family SUV rivals, though, such as the Toyota C-HR and Kia Sportage Hybrid.
The rationale is that there are many people around that are switched on to the whole EV revolution but can’t practically make such a car work in their everyday life. So Nissan has pooled all their know-how learnt from years of producing the fully-electric Leaf to create e-Power, claiming to bring all the benefits of an electric car with none of the drawbacks of having to wait around to charge it back up, or to feed a charging cable out of your home and across the pavement. But does it work? Let’s find out.
What’s it like to drive?
The e-Power system in the Qashqai still has an engine (in this case a brand new 1.5-litre petrol), and an electric motor. But unlike the hybrid systems found on the C-HR and Sportage that combine the engine and electric motor to drive the wheels, it’s only the latter that propels the Qashqai. This should therefore give you the instant performance benefits of an EV.
Except it doesn’t. A pure electric car provides a confidence-inspiring and silent surge of power as soon as you step on the accelerator, but despite having 187bhp to play with, the Qashqai E-Power isn’t that quick off the mark. In fact, the Qashqai feels slower in cut-and-thrust city traffic than even a little Fiat 500 electric.
With performance stats such as that, it’s really more comparable to a regular hybrid. In that regard, the Qashqai acquits itself in a smooth fashion, with an engine that on first acquaintance seems less intrusive than a C-HR when you demand maximum acceleration. The Qashqai also doesn’t suffer from any of the gearbox dither of the Sportage while it figures out which gear to be in for an overtake. That being said, the Sportage still feels far faster.
In fairness, the leisurely acceleration of the Qashqai fits in with the rather unrewarding driving experience that encourages you to cruise rather than attempt to break a lap record. After all, this is a family SUV that’s set up to be relaxing rather than exhilarating.
It grips well enough, holding its own against most of its Family SUV competition and it remains reasonably level in the bends to prevent those on the inside from getting car sick. The ride on 19in wheels remains a little fidgety over scruffier road surfaces, but not to the extent where your passengers will feel shaken up.
What’s it like inside?
The benefit of not going down the plug-in hybrid or full EV route is that the interior and packaging of the Qashqai e-Power remains unchanged. The only difference between this and a petrol-only automatic Qashqai is a new gear selector that’s shared with the all-electric Ayria.
But this is our first opportunity to experience the new and much larger 12.3in central infotainment screen that’ll be rolled out across the Qashqai range soon. It features Amazon Alexa so you’ll soon be able to send instructions to your car’s sat-nav from the comfort of your own home, and use far more natural speech when commanding various in-car functions.
The screen resolution and layout is far sharper and more up-to-date than the arcade quality screen currently available in the Qashqai. The home screen uses a tile layout similar to BMW’s iDrive, with a row of on-screen shortcuts down the side of the screen closest to the driver as per what you’ll find on an Audi Q3. It all works far faster than before too, and bodes well for ease of use on the move, although we do lament the fact that the simple volume and radio knobs of the old screen have vanished.
Other than that, visibility, interior space and storage are all unchanged. If you want to know more about this, we’ve written about it in great detail in our dedicated Nissan Qashqai review.
Keyword: 2022 Nissan Qashqai e-Power review: price, specs and release date