Unless you've been living under a rock, you've already heard by now that Honda and Nissan are in talks for a possible merger. Both companies have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to discuss business integration between the two companies. Mitsubishi is also part of the narrative, but their position on the matter is still not yet final, hence a separate MoU for the three-diamond brand.
One of the main drivers of the merger is Nissan's current poor financial position, mostly due to declining sales in China due to their market's unexpectedly rapid electric vehicle (EV) shift and massive incentives by Nissan to dealers to drive sales. Another reason for Nissan's woes is its lack of innovation in the powertrain department. The future is electrified, yes, but going all-in on EVs while ignoring hybrids altogether has put Nissan in a precarious position.
America's buyers have spoken. EV sales continue to grow, but hybrid sales grew even faster last year, to the tune of 36.7 percent. Nissan doesn't have hybrids in North America, while rivals like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai Motor Group, and heck, even Mazda, have hybrids to offer to consumers. Elsewhere, however, they have their signature e-Power hybrid system, which Americans have been missing out on since its creation. Is America missing out on e-Power, and what does it feel like behind the wheel?
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In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Nissan, Honda, and other authoritative sources, including Reuters and Automotive News.
To understand how Nissan's e-Power system works, we have to first take a look at the hybrid systems of its key rivals. Yes, there's also a plug-in hybrid, which is merely defined by its larger battery and the need to be plugged in. Crucially, however, hybrid systems in general are classified by how they manage the power flow between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and the electric motor. We won't be discussing all types because that's already worth another article, but here's how the popular hybrid systems work versus Nissan's e-Power system.
The most popular type of hybrid system in the United States in terms of sales is the series-parallel hybrid system. A series-parallel hybrid system uses a power-split device via some form of an e-CVT (planetary gear-type for Toyota and clutch-based for Honda). This allows the engine to either act as a generator (series mode) to charge the battery or send power to the wheels together with the electric motor (parallel mode). At the same time, the electric motor can solely power the vehicle while the engine remains disconnected as it charges the battery. The driving performance of these cars highly vary, with Honda's system offering a sportier take, while Toyota's system emits more engine drone when accelerating.
On the other hand, a parallel hybrid system, which is the most popular in terms of model availability, has the engine and electric motor connected in one driveshaft. Often, the electric motor is sandwiched between the engine and the electric motor, or right in the transmission. The engine can still charge the battery, and it can still run in pure electric mode like in a series-parallel system. This system offers a more linear power delivery and direct throttle response, and it's what Hyundai Motor Group most commonly uses. Parallel hybrids are also more common in high-output vehicles, such as Toyota's Hybrid Max system and i-Force Max, and the plug-in hybrids of Mazda and the German automakers.
Finally, we get to the series hybrid, which as you've probably understood already in our series-parallel discussion, the engine never powers the wheels as it only charges the battery. That is exactly what Nissan's e-Power system is, and how it sets itself apart from other hybrid systems. Nissan's e-Power system debuted in 2016 with the Note e-Power--a Honda Fit-sized hatchback. By 2023 and 1.5 million global sales later, 42.6 percent of Nissans sold in Japan came with e-Power.
Unfortunately, while e-Power is sold in Asia and Europe, North America--which is ironically one of Nissan's largest markets, missed out on this series hybrid system. What's the reason behind this and was it a missed opportunity?
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Now that you know how Nissan's e-Power system works, it's now a great time to determine how the system performs in the real world. Thankfully, as someone who lives in a country where the Nissan Kicks e-Power is sold, I've got a solid grasp on how a Nissan e-Power vehicle drives and whether it's a hybrid system that Americans are greatly missing out on.
In the Philippines, where the Nissan Kicks e-Power is one of the best-selling small crossovers, whether electrified or not, the vehicle is being marketed as "Electric Driven, Gas Charged". It's a simple marketing spiel that works brilliantly since series hybrids are exactly just that--an EV with a gasoline generator. As a result, yes, as you've probably expected, the Kicks e-Power drives like a pure EV. It is (mostly) silent until at least the electric motor demands more battery charge. The Kicks e-Power is decently refined, too. There's no vibration at all, even when hammering this car since the engine isn't connected to the throttle or the wheels, while road and wind noise are also well suppressed, helping in giving a serene driving experience.
It's also helped by the fact that Nissan has made the Kicks e-Power inherently dynamic to drive. The steering is sharp and body control is excellent. It feels more eager to turn than the Corolla Cross Hybrid it's competing with in our market. I can't believe how you guys in North America are chugging along with its 1.6-liter four-cylinder versus this far more modern e-Power system.
Engine | 1.2-liter four-cylinder (generator only) (Front) Permanent magnet synchronous motor |
Horsepower | 136 hp |
Torque | 206 lb-ft |
Transmission | Single-speed A/T |
Drivetrain | FWD |
Fuel Economy (Manufacturer's Claim) | 22 km/l (51 MPG) |
Driving Range | More than 900 km (559 miles) |
Base MSRP | PHP1,179,000 ($20,304) |
Of course, with a pure EV driving experience comes nippy, instant acceleration. Combined with its sharp handling, the Kicks e-Power is quite a fun car to drive. This is especially fun in the city, since it's so easy to nip through gaps in traffic, sometimes catching other drivers off guard since they don't expect your vehicle to be that responsive to overtake or close a gap. Oh, and even when you mash the throttle and the engine kicks (pun intended) into life, the 1.2-liter three-cylinder sounds decent rather than thrummy.
Perhaps its only gripe would be that, due to it being a series hybrid and the engine isn't driving the wheels, there are moments of aural disconnect between how you accelerate and how the engine's revs don't match your speed. It's not a deal-breaker personally, since this aural disconnect is few and far in between anyway.
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So it seems like the e-Power system is an extremely good system--one that would have put Nissan on the radar of a growing number of hybrid buyers. Unfortunately, as the plot to save Nissan continues, more details have emerged as to why the Japanese automaker didn't offer e-Power in North America, and one of their reasons is somehow valid, based on my experience with their Kicks e-Power.
Unfortunately, there's one potential drawback that a series hybrid could face that's unique to the driving styles of American buyers. America has long and diverse freeways with speed limits as high as 75 mph, and as a result, a lot of Americans spend most of their time driving on a wide-open highway for hours on end. A series hybrid in this driving scenario may not be able to perform as efficiently as expected, since the engine will be spending so much time running just to charge the battery.
At the same time, you have to remember that electric motors are less efficient on highways than they are in the city. Therefore, an electric motor's inefficiency, combined with a gasoline engine that's running at high RPMs to meet the power demands of its battery, will make for an inefficient hybrid system on the highway versus what its competitors offer. In my experience with the Kicks e-Power, I averaged 15.3 km/l on the highway (35 MPG) versus 19.2 km/l (45 MPG) on a Corolla Cross Hybrid, both at average speeds of 70-90 km/h (43-55 mph). It's easy to see which is the more efficient of the two for highway driving. In the city and Manila's horrible traffic, both are neck-and-neck at more than 22 km/l (51 MPG).
Even more unfortunate is that Nissan realized their mistake and now plans to bring e-Power to the United States by the end of 2026. That's more than a year from today, and by then, most of its competitors would have captured a bigger share of the hybrid market. Too little, too late? Perhaps, but here's another reason, according to Automotive News' Hans Griemel in Japan, why Nissan didn't bring e-Power to the North American market.
Nissan somehow knows the technical limitations of e-Power in highway use, so it developed a version that bolts a "high-tech turbocharged engine onto the series hybrid". However, according to one former executive, the North American Nissan team was not completely convinced that it was good for its business because American consumers were not yet ready. Furthermore:
American product planners begged to differ. The setup didn’t provide enough charge for high-speed, long-distance highways, they said. Moreover, U.S. drivers were vexed by the decoupled feeling between the all-electric acceleration and the on-again, off-again engine generator.
Finally, the decision that ultimately prevented Nissan from offering a hybrid solution in North America is that, after recognizing these possible shortcomings, Nissan's Japanese engineers were too proud of their e-Power technology and resisted using a stronger hybrid from its alliance partner Renault and their E-Tech system. Once again, unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is still a thing while the Nissan and Honda merger talks are underway.
2025-01-08T10:14:33ZMeanwhile, house-proud engineers in Japan resisted using a better-fit strong hybrid solution, such as the E-Tech setup developed by partner Renault that it could have borrowed.