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Andrea Matthews20 Feb 2018
REVIEW

Nissan Note e-POWER 2018 Review

e-Power is the petrol-electric hybrid technology Nissan hopes will transition the world to EVs
Review Type
Quick Spin
Review Location
Singapore

Nissan Australia may be without a 'proper' passenger car in its current line-up but the Nissan Note e-POWER small car is gaining fans in Japan thanks to its flexible hybrid powertrain. Taking knowhow from the LEAF battery electric car and applying it in a series hybrid, the little Note e-POWER offers sprightly city car performance. Combining a battery, electric motor, 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine and decent-sized fuel tank, the Note has a theoretical range of around 1300km. Will this affordable transition technology be a successful bridge to the future?

EV technology for everybody

While it may be Tesla that gets all the electric car plaudits, it is Japanese manufacturer Nissan that has the most runs on the board. In the past eight years, Nissan has sold over 300,000 battery-electric LEAF vehicles, with owners accumulating over 3.9 billion kilometres on pure electric power.

Building on that success, the second generation Nissan LEAF has just been confirmed for Australia and its longer range (expected to be around 240km of real world driving) is likely to extend its appeal to a broader group of buyers. Without widespread charging infrastructure and incentives, however, it may prove tough to convert mainstream buyers to a mid-$40,000 small car, regardless of its tech smarts and environmental credentials.

This is where Nissan's new e-POWER technology comes in. e-POWER is a petrol-electric hybrid system with no plug, which offers electric car performance and exceptional fuel economy with no compromise on long-range driving.

It reduces the need for a large battery, so it is more affordable too.

Available on the Nissan Note small car and Serena people carrier in Japan, the e-POWER system is what Nissan calls its 'bridging technology' on the journey to fully electric vehicles.

e-POWER Development

Unlike other car manufacturers which have gone from internal combustion engines through hybrids to battery electric vehicles, Nissan's gone the other way around -- taking what it has learned from LEAF and applying it to the e-POWER system.

Simply, e-POWER system is a series hybrid which pairs a 40kW electric motor with a small 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine which acts as a generator for the 1.5kW battery.

Whereas a conventional parallel hybrid uses the engine to drive the wheels, the purpose of the e-POWER's engine is just to charge the battery -- the wheels are always electrically driven.

On start-up, the Note is silent and initial acceleration is instant thanks to the electric propulsion system.

At moderate throttle input, e-POWER draws charge from the battery but when needed, the engine-generator kicks in to charge up the battery. The combination makes a noticeable drone once it is activated. As the engine itself is a small three-cylinder unit that runs at constant rpm, it isn't a conventional engine noise and a bit monotone in its sound.

If you've ever driven a Holden Volt when it kicks its own generator into action, then you'd be quite familiar with the tone of the drone.

Like Volt only different

The e-POWER and Volt systems are quite similar in their action, although of course, the Volt was a plug-in electric vehicle. The big difference in the two series hybrid systems is that the Volt's engine only acted to maintain a charge in the battery and not to charge up the battery.

The Note e-POWER therefore a very different proposition as, depending on your driving style, it has a theoretical range of over 1300km on a single 47-litre tank of petrol. That equates to an official fuel consumption figure (JC08) of just 2.9L/100km.

While we were only able to take the Note for a very short drive (on a closed autonomous vehicle development 'track'), first impressions are encouraging.

Note e-POWER features the same one pedal e-pedal technology as the LEAF. There's instant torque available from the electric motor and its regenerative braking is easy to master. Steering feel is also light, making the Note an ideal city car.

There's plenty of space too, with an extraordinary amount of head and legroom in the second row and a large boot delivering big surprises for a small car.

Design-wise, the (now aging) Note is nothing to write home about, if anything it looks a little old fashioned considering the tech it is carrying. The trade-off for delivering more interior space is a high roofline and boxy rear end while the front end styling is conservative, resulting in a car that is quite conventional.

On the interior, there are a few more nods to the future. The rear view mirror is actually a screen that will display an uninterrupted view even if you have two six-footers in the back seats. The same tech is offered in the new LEAF and will soon arrive in other Nissan and Infiniti models.

The gear shifter is replaced with a round knob (also grabbed from LEAF) that toggles between forward and reverse gears. If you're familiar with a Toyota Prius, it's a similar operation to flick the car into drive.

The cockpit displays retain a high level of familiarity, as the Note e-POWER is based on its conventional counterpart which is offered with 1.2-litre petrol and supercharged petrol powertrains. Drivers looking for an efficient vehicle that won't confuse them with overthought trickery will be delighted.

Easing the world towards the future

At first glance, the Note e-POWER is not very exciting, yet on reflection it offers car buyers a solid transition option as we head towards electrification.

It is highly likely that some car buyers have been put off by the quirky look of EVs in the past - indeed, the original LEAF had a face only its mother would love -- but a conventional car that looks and feels like familiar territory may just be the key to encouraging hybrid take up.

Not only that, but the cost will be attractive too. The battery in the Note e-POWER is a fraction of the size of that in the LEAF and therefore much, much cheaper. Add to that there's no plug-in equipment and the Note becomes a much more affordable and accessible proposition and that's going to be important to encourage mainstream buyers to transition towards electric vehicles.

For those buyers looking for the fun characteristics of an electric car, with the potential for long range driving and fuel efficiency, the e-POWER represents a blend of both worlds.

While Nissan's staying mum on whether we'll see the Note e-POWER in Australia any time soon, it has told us that it is very interested in e-POWER technology as it becomes available on future vehicles, potentially the X-Trail SUV and tradie-ute, the Nissan Navara.

2017 Nissan Note e-POWER specs and pricing:
Price: $22,000 approx
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol
Motor: 40kW Electric motor
Battery: 1.5kWh
Fuel: 2.9L/100km (JC08)
CO2: N/A
Safety Rating: N/A

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Written byAndrea Matthews
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Pros
  • Frugal powertrain
  • Sprightly take off
  • Surprisingly spacious
Cons
  • Engine drone
  • Feels a little cheap and cheerful
  • Conventional exterior styling
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