Nissan is making big claims about the all-new Elgrand, fighting the Toyota Alphard. The fourth-generation Elgrand uses the company’s efficient e-Power hybrid. Nissan sold just 1,163 examples of the Elgrand in Japan during the 2025 fiscal year. Plenty of premium cars use active noise cancellation. Still, according to Nissan, the new Elgrand is the first to feature an integrated ANC system designed to eliminate unwanted noise from both the road and the minivan’s hybrid powertrain. The technology comes from Panasonic, and Nissan says it will lift refinement in the new Elgrand, a minivan whose entire reason for existing is comfort. Most cabin ANC systems only fight road noise, so going after the powertrain too is what Nissan claims sets this one apart. Panasonic’s system works with acceleration sensors placed around the vehicle, which detect the vibrations most closely tied to cabin noise. Once it reads those vibrations, the system generates opposing control sounds and pipes them through the car’s speakers to cancel the offending frequencies before they reach your ears. Read: Nissan’s New Luxury Minivan Makes The Sienna Look Ancient, But We Can’t Have It Audio amplifier with integrated ANC (left). According to the company, canceling out road noise and engine noise requires different control methods because of their unique frequencies. Road noise is generally more difficult to control as it’s completely random and the frequency and amplitude are continually shifting. The Nissan Elgrand’s system is said to be effective at canceling both, although it’ll be hard to say how effective it is until we experience it for ourselves. Panasonic has supplied ANC systems to more than 60 different models. Given the work that’s gone into developing the system in the Elgrand, it seems likely that other production models could adopt a similar setup in the future. Panasonic While Nissan won’t sell the fourth-generation Elgrand here in the US, it remains a very important model for the brand. In Japan, the Elgrand helped create the hugely popular luxury MPV segment, but in recent years, it’s been dethroned by the Toyota Alphard. In fact, whereas Toyota sold 81,357 Alphards during the 2025 fiscal year, Nissan sold just 1,163 examples of the outgoing model. With a radical new design and an e-Power hybrid system, Nissan hopes the new Elgrand will get its mojo back.