Nissan is gearing up for a new generation of its e-POWER hybrid system, which will finally arrive in the North American market in the 2026 calendar year. It’s an EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) system that claims to deliver “the range and convenience of diesel, with the refinement and responsiveness of an EV.”
e-POWER uses a gas engine and an electric motor. Although its engineering resembles that of a PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle), the e-POWER system doesn’t require any plugging into the wall. The gas engine feeds an onboard battery, and the electric motor is what turns the wheels; the gas engine isn’t connected to the wheels. Nissan estimates a fuel consumption rate with the new iteration of e-POWER to be 4.5L/100km using the WLTP scale, which translates to approximately 53 mpg. The output is 151 kW, which is 202 horsepower.
Nissan Qashquai
“This new, third-generation e-POWER system redefines Nissan’s hybrid technology, providing smooth and responsive driving in all conditions,” Nissan Chief Technology Officer Eiichi Akashi said. “We’ve embedded close to a decade of learnings to ensure the system is more efficient, more refined, and more competitive.”
Nissan Rogue
So, when can we expect to see this new engineering in production models? “The launch with Qashqai is just the beginning, we look forward to delivering this advanced powertrain to customers in North America and Japan in FY26, with other markets to follow,” Akashi said. The Nissan Qashqai is a subcompact crossover that used to be available in the U.S. as the Rogue Sport, and it’s a big seller for the Japanese automaker globally. We don’t expect this model to come back to the States, but Akashi specifically mentioned a Nissan Rogue EREV for the 2026 financial year, likely as a 2027 model.
Potential Chevy Equinox PHEV prototype
2027 lines up with when GM has promised new PHEV models in North America. A camouflaged compact crossover was spotted earlier this month that could be a test mule for a Chevy Equinox PHEV, and we’ve speculated that such a vehicle could be produced at the GM Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas as part of GM’s recently announced $4 billion investment in American manufacturing facilities. If this is the case, an Equinox PHEV could hit the market at around the same time as a hybrid Nissan Rogue capable of over 50 mpg without any of the baggage that comes with charging.
Comments
VOLT was right all along…and all the criticism GM got for it…
When Volt was new, Nissan had their 40 mile range whatchamacallit …leaf
Agreed. Volt didn’t get the love it deserved. However, I would still buy a ICE over BEV any day of the week.
Uh huh. If Nissan survives that long.
None of this hybrid stuff is going to last.
One folks find they will pay more to buy, pay mare to service, never save enough fuel to pay for the added costs and find resale tanked as the battery is bad and the tech is old.
People will grow wise.
Id say it will…. But not as today’s current setup. I’ll give you 2 guarantees.
1, oil will always be drilled (we need the plastic)
2, solid state batteries will be developed (cause we’re addicted to our phones)
So to be honest, Rams Etorque setup will likely be the most likely power train of the future. Currently it costs ram as they need 2 electrical systems as the Lion battery freezes in the winter, but a solid state will let them replace the lead acid and just use the alternator or maybe a motor torque converter to start charge and run the car. There’s still lots of ICE tech that’s known that’s left on the table, so 60-70% efficient ICE engines is coming, 50% is already here. Key will be removing the 3 motors in a hybrid (starter/alternator/drive and replacing it with 1 motor, 1 battery.
50 mpg sounds great but will the battery last 200,000 miles. How about the weight of this thing. Battery chemistry?
Volt was way ahead of it’s time. Id wager still is better laid out that this one. The inefficiency of non direct drive cost at least 10%, closer to 20. Imagine what the volt would be with new engine and battery tech.