How this new Nissan car is perfect for the introduction of electric vehicles

Worried about going all electric? Nissan has ruined the Qashqai e-Power, a car you can jump in. This revolutionary engine uses a gasoline engine to drive a pure electric motor. This is the exact opposite of a traditional hybrid.

The result is not only more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional hybrids, it also gives drivers the fuel-efficient driving and steering of a 100% EV that feels fully electric and may seem strange at first. This is the best migration technique.

When it comes to reinventing the wheel, Nissan has form. Introduced in 2006, the Qashqai (named after an Iranian nomad) was one of the first compact crossover SUVs and the company has sold 5.5 million units in 40 countries. Safe, economical and profitable.

Since then, competitors have emerged from almost every major manufacturer, from the Ford Kuga to the Volkswagen Tiguan. However, the Qashqai is entirely designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK. Nissan’s fleet will be fully electric by 2030, and the Qashqai e-Power is the car they hope to bring to customers.

What is revolutionary about this? A hybrid is typically a transmission-driven internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle with an electric motor as a backup. So the ICE is the electrical master and slave. The roles are reversed on the Qashqai e-Power. This has never been done before.

The 154-hp 1.5-litre ICE engine acts as a generator for the 140-kW (187-hp) electric motors that drive the wheels. It uses no plug-in charging and produces plenty of power no matter how heavy your right foot is. The drive system adapts to your driving behaviour.

No gearbox, just 1 speed like a pure EV. 2.1kWh lithium-ion battery, inverter, and you’re good to go. It’s light and compact and fits under the front seat, so it doesn’t interfere with rear seat or trunk space. Given current fuel prices, it’s nice not to have to carry around a 200kg battery like in a plug-in hybrid electric car.

The result is almost silent linear acceleration, like a purely electric car, thanks not only to the electric motors driving the wheels, but also to the variable compression ratio motor and active noise cancellation. When the ICE engine turns on, you won’t even notice it.

As a result, it is more fuel efficient and lighter than traditional hybrids, mainly due to the lack of a gearbox. Actual fuel consumption is 53.3mpg and CO2 emissions are 119g/km. This is a 20% improvement over the All-ICE 1.3 Qashqai (nearly £2,000 more than sticker price). Range exceeds 600 miles per tank.

There are three driving modes, including electronic pedal, which means maximum energy recovery and almost no use of the brake pedal, allowing you to drive with just the throttle and dramatically slow the car on take off.

With the Qashqai e-Power, Nissan is ready for its next all-electric vehicle. But the next all-electric car is already here. Launched this month, the Nissan Ariya is a stylish pure electric vehicle. It has 329 miles of range, better than an Audi and about the same as a Tesla. The quality is close to the previous one. A very premium SUV. Starting at £43,845, it’s the cheaper of the two.