Nissan QASHQAI e-POWER hybrid in hot demand

New hybrid technology from Nissan is proving popular well before it hits Aussie dealerships, with queues already stretching out months for the incoming 2022 Nissan QASHQAI e-POWER.

The headline act for the new-generation small car that’s due to launch later this year, the Nissan QASHQAI e-POWER will be the first model in Australia to feature the non-plug-in hybrid tech that uses an electric motor to drive the wheels and leaves the petrol engine to simply supply electricity to a small battery pack.

It will be followed by an e-POWER version of the new-generation Nissan X-TRAIL mid-size SUV, which also launches soon, however the hybrid will not be among the initial launch wave.

Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson said the innovative hybrid technology has piqued the interest of buyers looking to slash their fuel bills.

“It’ll take a few months to fulfill the customer orders we have now,” said Paterson, referring to early interest in the QASHQAI hybrid.

He also enthused that the technology was “exciting” in a package that “accelerates like an EV does”.

Unlike the dominant Toyota hybrids – which use both a petrol engine and electric motor to drive the wheels, often at the same time – e-POWER uses only its electric motor to drive the car.

The petrol engine is used purely as a generator to create electricity, allowing it to be tuned for efficiency for that specific task.

It cannot be recharged externally; instead, it’s powered purely by petrol.

For now, however, there’s one key detail yet to be filled in on the new Nissan QASHQAI e-POWER – what it will cost.

The new QASHQAI is priced between $33,890 and $47,390 (plus on-road costs) for versions with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine.

Nissan has previously admitted the e-POWER will carry a price premium – one likely to be steeper than the extra $3000 attached to rival Toyotas, which dominate the hybrid sales charts.

Paterson hinted at that with clues as to how the company will market the newcomer.

“We are not going to be positioning e-POWER as a hybrid. It is electrified power,” he said, adding that it will be a big volume player in the Nissan range.

“It’s not going to be a one or two per cent [of overall sales] player … it’s not just done to say that we’re offering electrified technology within the line-up.

“It will be a significant portion or percentage of our volume and that exact number we’re still trying to establish.”

Despite the strong early interest, Paterson also admitted forecasting demand for e-POWER will initially be challenging.

“We are still trying to evaluate exactly what the customer demand will be for e-Power versus ICE [internal combustion engine],” he said.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au