[RuralEV]

the i3 had a substantial battery that could run the car for 80 miles and had a small scooter engine under the boot as a Rex ( range extender ) but could not drive the wheels itself, because it wasn't connected to the drive train.

The i3 is very similar to the Nissan e-Power apart from the battery size (22-44kWh Vs 2kWh), the fact that the battery could be externally charged, and that the ICE power was much lower meaning that performance was limited when the battery was depleted.

(The Nissan e-Power) cannot move more than a few yards using its battery.

According to @Miles Roberts it can manage up to 4 miles in urban traffic which fits with the heavily buffered 2kWh battery.

I look forward to @Hitstirrer 's review but still question how many buyers of large crossovers really need more daily range than the Ariya offers, a point that we disagree on.

 

[Chrisb]

My Leaf was in for service last week, i could of borrowed an Ariya but did not want to but they had the E Power Qashqai, i liked the digital cockpit but thought the driving experience was poor and it did not have much grunt.
Only did a few miles in it though., i would not want one.

 

[Hitstirrer]

The i3 is very similar to the Nissan e-Power apart from the battery size (22-44kWh Vs 2kWh), the fact that the battery could be externally charged, and that the ICE power was much lower meaning that performance was limited when the battery was depleted.

Yes - very similar, apart from the many large and crucial differences that you list.

I suppose that a 2 kWh battery would be capable of driving 4 miles to empty if the petrol engine was manually disabled. But such a party trick would not be something of much relevance often. Nice to engage when passing a school gate to avoid fuming the kids of course. And there will be some nerdy anoraks around that will delight in doing that. But I regard it as a solution for no real problem.

And I also agree with your range comment. This car is not intended for rational and logical people like the BEV community though. It is designed to compete with both the standard hybrid and PHEV buyers who buy that way because of a mixture of range anxiety and charger anxiety. We all know that an Ariya would be perfectly satisfactory for people looking at this new Qashqai, but when you add in the price advantage, alongside the deep-rooted fears listed above it would take a very persuasive argument to get those people into a BEV. Especially when this car drives much like an Ariya.

 

[Hitstirrer]

My Leaf was in for service last week, i could of borrowed an Ariya but did not want to but they had the E Power Qashqai, i liked the digital cockpit but thought the driving experience was poor and it did not have much grunt.
Only did a few miles in it though., i would not want one.

Thanks for that. Interesting comments. Can't wait to try one now.

 

[Orrery]

The technology of e-power has worked well in Japan in the Note. But the driving speeds in Japan are slower than in the UK. The efficiency (i.e. mpg) at UK motorway speeds will be poor....

Pity it doesn't have a lock-up clutch for higher speeds, like the Outlander.

 

[Mr_G]

The i3 is very similar to the Nissan e-Power apart from the battery size (22-44kWh Vs 2kWh), the fact that the battery could be externally charged, and that the ICE power was much lower meaning that performance was limited when the battery was depleted.



According to @Miles Roberts it can manage up to 4 miles in urban traffic which fits with the heavily buffered 2kWh battery.

I look forward to @Hitstirrer 's review but still question how many buyers of large crossovers really need more daily range than the Ariya offers, a point that we disagree on.

No the i3 and e-power are very very different. The 650 cc engine that can generate 28 kW is a range extender in the i3. I have never had to use it in anger in 4 years of driving an i3 but it does allow me to use the battery to the very edge and get home safely. The e-power is almost the reverse you will not go very far without the engine having to recharge the tiny battery. The i3 is carbon fibre to make the car light and efficient. E-power is not about efficiency but the electric driving experience with added noise, smells, pollution and vibration less range anxiety and home charging. An i3 is a dual fuel car but e-power can only be fueled with petrol.

 

[Mr_G]

Pity it doesn't have a lock-up clutch for higher speeds, like the Outlander.

In e-power the ICE does not mechanically drive the road wheels. It is a series hybrid.

 

[RuralEV]

In e-power the ICE does not mechanically drive the road wheels. It is a series hybrid.

The point being that in later Outlanders most of the time the drive was electric, but above 40mph the engine directly drove the wheels and the electric motor via a clutch. In theory this is more efficient than driving via the generator and electric motor at higher speeds and power outputs where the round trip from mechanical to electricity and back to mechanical are unnecessary and inefficient.
There might of course be royalties to pay to GKN....

 

[GOSPORT DAVE]

Nissan Production in the United Kingdom – Qashqai e-Power, Juke Hybrid and Leaf EV

 

[RuralEV]

I'd much prefer to get a British built EV, but the LEAF is (in my opinion) dated and expensive compared to the MG4. The other two don't interest me as they aren't BEV and I don't want a crossover. Nissan have lost their way in Europe, partly thanks to the EU punishing the UK by removing tariffs on Japanese built cars.

 

[GOSPORT DAVE]

Some Stats:


Model: Nissan QASHQAI E Power

RRP: £40,745

Fuel economy: 53 mpg combined

Horsepower: 140 kW @ 4,500 rpm

Towing capacity: 750 kg

Battery: 2 kWh 346 V lithium-ion

Engine: 1.5 L 3-cylinder

Kerb weight: 1,670 kg


QASHQAi E Power -Tekna + RRP: £40,745

QASHQAi E Power -Tekna - RRP: £37,905

QASHQAi E Power - N Connecta: RRP: £34,885

QASHQAi EPower - Acenta Premium: RRP: £32,715


In comparison the ARIYA is from RRP: £43,790 (£52K for the 87Kwh)

There is a saving of £11K over a top spec Ariya - Even at today's price of petrol £11K buys you over 70K miles of fuel - so more than compensates for loss of cheap home charging.

Positives:
Drives like an EV.
No queuing at chargers - no worry that the charger is not working - no waiting 50 minutes for your vehicle to charge.
Cheaper to buy so less initial outlay or cheaper month payments.
No EV Battery Degradation effecting the range.
No reduced range in winter.
Is able to tow..
Built in Sunderland - so may reduce delivery times. - Supports UK workers and employment.

Negatives:

Having to go to petrol stations again - cost of petrol - loss of the convenience of charging at home.
Tail pipe emissions.
Only does 53 MPG so not very economical. (Or is that okay?)
Extra cost of servicing - oil changes and disposal of - back to changing spark plugs etc.
119g/Km emissions so £180 a year road tax.

The elephant in the room is:

What is it like to drive? does it have enough power? 140W output doesn't seem a lot.

 

[Hitstirrer]

Some Stats:

Thanks. That is precisely my own thoughts. @Chrisb wasn't impressed ( see #122 ). But I intend to seek an early test drive and will let you know.

 

[RuralEV]

The elephant in the room is:

What is it like to drive? does it have enough power? 140W output doesn't seem a lot.

To me it's not the 140kW that the ICE produces, but the 178kW that the electrical motor can put out from the battery. Admittedly after a few minutes at maximum power the battery will deplete despite the efforts of the ICE to top it up, but the chances are that the car will have hit its limited maximum speed even up a very steep hill.
So with the same power as an Ariya and less weight it should be fast enough.
Worth noting that the Ariya can also tow twice the amount, and that if you include "fuel" in the monthly costs the Ariya may well cost less.

 

[Mr_G]

To me it's not the 140kW that the ICE produces, but the 178kW that the electrical motor can put out from the battery. Admittedly after a few minutes at maximum power the battery will deplete despite the efforts of the ICE to top it up, but the chances are that the car will have hit its limited maximum speed even up a very steep hill.
So with the same power as an Ariya and less weight it should be fast enough.
Worth noting that the Ariya can also tow twice the amount, and that if you include "fuel" in the monthly costs the Ariya may well cost less.

Given that an i3 with 28 kW electrical output from the 650cc REx can hold the battery charge level in all but the most extreme circumstances, the e-power should have no problem holding its own with 140 kW mechanical output. That 140 kW mechanical might translate (guessing 90% efficient) into 125 kW electrical. The tiny battery will drop charge very quickly as a percentage compared with the i3 battery so the engine must be able to keep up within tighter limits. In an i3 the REx steps up to max output (two settings) if the battery percentage is starting to sag. It in the i3 tends to battery hold to about +/- 1 %. Given the e-power has only 2 kWh then the battery holding is going to have to be much faster acting. Be interesting to see how many steps the engine has for charging rates. It might even be linear rather than stepped. Feedback from test drivers please.

I bet the car would limit rather than let the battery run out but most drivers will never experience that situation. In the UK you would just run out of road and we don't have mountains like the Andes to climb. It will be essential to protect the battery if the car ran out of petrol.

Given that the old Qashqai had one of the dirtiest diesels still on the market Nissan were going to get hammered with fines on fleet Euro emissions if they did not do something.

It is a pragmatic solution for them given battery building capacity, common components, and shipping costs. A 'bridge' car which is ideal for an ICE driver wanting some electric drive experience but a backward step for anybody who has make the switch to a BEV and has home charging available.

It might even have quite a long run if future versions have bigger batteries and smaller engines along with a charging port.

 

[RuralEV]

It might even have quite a long run if future versions have bigger batteries and smaller engines along with a charging port.

Sadly this "new" version of the Qashqui doesn't appear to have been built with a significant battery in mind - a major oversight in my mind - so bigger batteries are unlikely for this product cycle.

 

[Chrisb]

Thanks for that. Interesting comments. Can't wait to try one now.

it is a nice car for sure, will be keen to hear your thoughts on it .
It is pretty quiet and of course smooth, it will certainly have its followers.

 

[Hitstirrer]

it is a nice car for sure, will be keen to hear your thoughts on it.
It is pretty quiet and of course smooth, it will certainly have its followers.

Popped into the local Nissan dealer today intending to just have a sit-in and general look around but I was offered a quick accompanied five-minute flip around the block. Literally around the block in fairly heavy town traffic but even so I was able to get a brief overall impression. It drove more like an EV than an ICE. The engine was not at all intrusive. Just a vague background hum. Still pretty quiet to drive. Pretty nippy actually at these town speeds. A concern was that the screen stats afterwards showed 35 mpg average. Of course, he made the usual noises about the unusual nature of a test drive car drive pattern, that was also the daily drive of a dealer rep taking it home like he stole it. More research needed and of course a much longer and varied drive to get a true idea. But, worryingly, my takeaway impression was - It's just a modern bog standard car. Nothing special. Certainly at this stage of my changing cars investigation, and with the caveat of such a limited drive, no wow factor to report.

 

[RuralEV]

my takeaway impression was - It's just a modern bog standard car.

That's enough for most people. ☹

 

[richardglover]

Hi @Hitstirrer , made me smile to see an alert on this old thread, so much has happened since 2018.
We still have the BMW i3 REX we leased in 2016, only now we own it. We purchased our Tesla model 3 December 2020 so that's my car and the i3 my wife's.
Neither car is bog standard.
I still bore people with my opinions on we should have had an evolution rather than a revolution and that how much further advanced we would be now and without heartache. Only I don't think we would have made the small fortune from Tesla shares that we did.

 

[McPhee]

I'm quite intrigued by this.

I've been looking at changing my Leaf for something larger, and with more range. But decent size BEVs are so expensive! This is £2.3k cheaper than a Niro EV over a two year lease (the Niro being the cheapest EV that's notably larger than the Leaf.). And as I don't currently have a home charger (and won't for the foreseeable future), I'm not making any significant fuel savings by driving electric.

I will have to get a test drive booked.