The Nissan Qashqai ePower represents a commitment by the Japanese brand to get out of the conventional, offering a hybrid mechanics that offers the sensations of electric driving. It is an interesting proposal, but while it has many virtues, it may also have the occasional defect.
Variable compression engine
The heart of the system is a 1.5 turbo engine that develops 156 CV of power, the key element of which is the fact that it has variable compression.
The compression ratio ranges from 8:1 to 14:1. In scenarios of low energy demand, it is in the highest range, which optimizes consumption and emissions; while in a high power demand, to charge the battery or supply power directly to the engine, the lower compression ratio is used to maximize the power output of the engine.
The behavior of an electric
The “funny” of the system is that the gasoline block only acts as a generator to feed the battery, in a way that is electric with extended autonomy, with the difference that the Nissan Qashqai cannot be plugged in to recharge.
It is the electric block, which delivers 190 CV of power, which is in charge of moving the wheels, which ensures that, although the Nissan is a hybrid, the driving sensations are those of a zero emissions, with a power delivery immediately when stepping on the accelerator that gives a greater vividness of reactions.
e-pedal
Nissan has taken the opportunity to include its e-Pedal technology in the SUV, driving with a single pedal, the accelerator, which is responsible for stopping the car once the foot is lifted from it.
This makes driving much easier and more practical, being especially comfortable when you are in the middle of urban traffic or in traffic jams.
Goodbye to the anxiety of autonomy
Autonomy remains one of the aspects that most overwhelms buyers of electric cars, something that is eliminated from the equation in the Qashqai ePower, since its autonomy is measured as that of a combustion model.
And not only that, it is a model that must be refueled, not recharged, so the headache of finding a public point that operates properly also disappears, to which is added the fact that gas stations they are much more abundant (although going through them nowadays is a real pain for the wallet).
Consumption and contained emissions…
All this makes it possible to enjoy a mechanical power of 190 CV and 330 Nm of maximum torque with much more efficiency typical of a model from a lower segment and with more restrained performance: it homologates 5.3 l/100 km and 119 g/km of CO2, a clear plus point (especially at current fuel prices).
Flaw: …but in the end it still spends and emits
But in the end, although it has exclusively electric traction, it continues to use a combustion engine that makes it use gasoline and have polluting emissions during all the time it is circulating, so it loses, in the face of ecology, one of the main points in favor of battery electric cars.
Defect: Mechanical Complexity
Nissan’s proposal is very good and has strong points that are more than clear, those that we have already mentioned, but when it comes down to it, we must also consider whether so much technological deployment is worth it if in the end we continue to talk about a model that is still a hybrid.
We explain ourselves. It offers good consumption and emission figures for its power, but ends up acting like an HEV, although using elements of an electric one that will increase its price, will make it have a higher rate than more conventional hybrid options, in addition to increasing the number of parts. that can be damaged, with what it entails.
