Next Nissan Navara likely to get e-Power as Nissan ditches diesel

The days of diesel at Nissan are officially numbered, with executives this week declaring the brand was largely done with the widely used fossil fuel type and has no plans for it “to come back”.

Instead, it will focus on gradually expanding and developing its electric-drive e-Power hybrid system – and its related e-4ORCE all-wheel drive system – across its global portfolio as emission regulations continue to tighten.

“At the moment we are going out of the diesel offer, generally speaking,” Nissan AMEIO regional product planning and strategy manager Ilya Deminov said at a media round table.

“We don’t plan to come back, so we are constantly now removing our diesel offerings from the portfolio.”

The writing has been on the wall for diesel for a while now in Europe, and more new models are turning their back on the fuel as they come to market in Australia.

Among the most recent of them is the new Nissan QASHQAI and Nissan X-TRAIL, both of which will soon be offered Down Under with the choice of petrol and, instead of diesel, e-Power powertrains.

The obvious exception here is the venerable Nissan Navara ute which – at least in Australia, like most of its direct competitors – is offered exclusively with diesel power, in this case a 2.3-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder in both two- and four-wheel drive configurations.

Aussies love their diesel utes, especially 4x4 versions, but with the next-gen Navara set to share its new ladder platform with the all-new 2024 Mitsubishi Triton, questions are being raised as to which form of electrification Nissan’s next ute will adopt – a variation of the next Triton’s plug-in hybrid (PHEV) system or a scaled-up e-Power system.

According to Deminov, Nissan will always choose its e-Power tech over PHEV systems as the “main technology” for its model range as the industry transitions to pure EVs, suggesting the next-generation Navara will stand apart from its platform sibling in terms of its electrified powertrain(s).

Taking peak power outputs out of the equation, it seems Nissan’s e-Power system wouldn’t be at any major disadvantage against a comparable diesel or plug-in hybrid set-up in terms of sheer capability, given the inbound X-TRAIL e-Power twins flaunt a 1650kg maximum braked towing capacity – bang on the mid-size SUV segment average.

Whether an e-Powered dual-cab 4x4 ute could handle up to 3500kg – a prerequisite in its category – remains to be seen.

Just as importantly, Nissan says its dual-motor e4ORCE all-wheel drive system can react 10,000 times faster than a traditional AWD set-up and has the potential for more hard-core applications… like a 4x4 Navara.

“The torque response for electric motors is instant; one ten-thousandth of a second is incredibly quick … it’s 10 times faster than the stopwatch used in Formula 1,” Nissan Technical Centre Europe engineering chief Adam Robertson said.

“It means you’ve got the permanent all-wheel drive system so you apply torque wherever you want it at any time.

“Of course, that is the pinnacle; you can use that in other applications.

“I wouldn’t comment on any future plans on any other models, but obviously this technology offers some very, very strong benefits.”

Robertson also reiterated that the concept of Nissan’s e-Power drive system (an internal combustion engine serving as a generator for a battery pack that in turn powers one or two electric motors) is almost infinitely scalable in terms of platform and application.

Combine all this intel together and it becomes apparent that electrification, and more specifically e-Power, is practically a given for Nissan’s future off-roaders, including the next-gen Navara that’s slated to be revealed in 2024.

Whether Nissan is ready to replace diesel power with e-Power in the next Navara remains to be seen, but we know the technology doesn’t lose out to more traditional hybrid systems in terms of towing capacity or performance – the new X-TRAIL e-Power can hit 100km/h in seven seconds – and Nissan executives are already talking up the e-4ORCE AWD system’s off-road capabilities.

So for now we’ll just have to sit and wait…