How Nissan's cutting-edge technology works and the benefits it has to offer you.
When the upgraded Nissan Note was introduced in 2017, at its core was e-POWER, a brand new powertrain that combined electric technology with the convenience of a petrol engine.
Fast forward to today and the launch of the all-new Nissan Qashqai in the UK and Europe last year that will now soon be offered with the same e-POWER technology to meet the demands of European customers.
Using EV technology perfected in the Nissan LEAF, e-POWER molds together a high-performance lithium-ion battery, a petrol engine, an inverter, and an electric motor.
The combustion engine acts as a generator to charge the battery, which then drives the electric motor to provide power to the wheels via the inverter. It also benefits from regenerative braking, which captures energy lost when slowing down to then be stored in the battery for later use.
So what you're essentially getting with e-POWER is an electric motor that's driven by the energy supplied by a traditional engine.
This is different from hybrid powertrains where the wheels can be driven by an electric motor, a petrol engine, or a combination of the two - with e-POWER, the engine isn't connected to the wheels at all and only charges the battery.
Some of the benefits of the e-POWER technology include:
The Qashqai e-POWER model is also the first Qashqai in its history to offer a new single-pedal driving mode called 'e-Pedal Step'.
Engaged via a button on the centre console, this allows you to control the speed of your vehicle using just the accelerator, which means less switching between the accelerator and the brake.
This is similar technology to what you can find across the Nissan LEAF range and makes for very easy and convenient driving - especially on longer commutes.