Nissan e-Power Series Hybrids coming to Australia

[Franco Cozzo]

Its about time these hit our roads, been available in Japan for ages and starting to appear on our roads through grey imports.



Engine doesn't power the wheels, engine only runs a generator which charges a small battery which powers and electric motor.

https://www.nissan.com.au/about-nissan/e-power.html

No need to plug in like a traditional EV, you just fill it up and the engine is just like a generator you have for backup power or a motor home et al.

Giovanni Cadogan is very critical:



I'm disappointed they aren't introducing the Note, focusing on only the SUVs.

I'm really keen on the ePower NISMO Note.

[PooDog]

It's the shared tech they have with Mitsubishi ......sounds like the new EV , Nissan Ariya is not comparing well efficiency wise with the likes of Tesla , BYD etc

[kevino]

Interesting tech.
But......
Fuel consumption is 6/8 litres per 100km vs much lower in for example Toyota Hybrids.... and for that matter a petrol 1 litre Skoda or Vw at much lower cost.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by kevino

Interesting tech.
But......
Fuel consumption is 6/8 litres per 100km vs much lower in for example Toyota Hybrids.... and for that matter a petrol 1 litre Skoda or Vw at much lower cost.

Does 2.7L/100km in the Note, makes the same power and torque as my TDCI Focus but from 1 RPM (Nismo Note).

Beats out my Focus doing 5.7L/100km on diesel and you can fill it with E10.

I think it has merit, depends on how much Nissan wants to charge Australians up the ***.

The one I'm interested in they're not bringing to Australia

[Ben73]

I have no issue with it as long as it does what it’s meant to.
I do wonder how the engine RPM would work. Would it randomly fluctuate when the car decides it needs more or less power.
Wonder if it would be like some locomotives where you shut of the throttle to idle and the engine keeps reving at then red line for several minutes.

[hackney]

Originally Posted by kevino

Interesting tech.
But......
Fuel consumption is 6/8 litres per 100km vs much lower in for example Toyota Hybrids.... and for that matter a petrol 1 litre Skoda or Vw at much lower cost.

I mean, why would anyone bother with purchasing one of these? 6.8 is quite high fuel consumption.Just stick to a Toyota or Honda Hybrid (as low as 2.9L/100,in mine.)This ‘E’ power is just marketing ‘spin’.Nissan making it sound good which isn’t fact, it ain’t that great.I was going to wait for the ‘E power’ Qashqai, glad I didn’t.Fuel consumption ain’t that fantastic.

[PooDog]

Or you could get a twin electric motors AWD , and the only plug in you can fast charge Outlander that does 1.6

[kevino]

Franco
Note not available in Aus.
The test I saw ( with the fuel use I quoted)was of the new e power X Trail/Quashki suv pair and yes these will be available in Aus from wait for it $54995.
If you want a Nissan Note car go to nz heaps of those cars there.
Notes are smaller lighter no AWD etc so guess their fuel use with e power would be lower.
Its time to trade the Focus on a new Skoda Scala 85 tsi dsg 1 litre from $32990 drive away.,,, if you want low fuel use with a reasonable new price.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Ben73

I have no issue with it as long as it does what it’s meant to.
I do wonder how the engine RPM would work. Would it randomly fluctuate when the car decides it needs more or less power.
Wonder if it would be like some locomotives where you shut of the throttle to idle and the engine keeps reving at then red line for several minutes.

Not 100% but i have heard of ones like this staying at a constant rpm, selected by which rpm is the most efficient.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by kevino

Franco
Note not available in Aus.
The test I saw ( with the fuel use I quoted)was of the new e power X Trail/Quashki suv pair and yes these will be available in Aus from wait for it $54995.
If you want a Nissan Note car go to nz heaps of those cars there.
Notes are smaller lighter no AWD etc so guess their fuel use with e power would be lower.
Its time to trade the Focus on a new Skoda Scala 85 tsi dsg 1 litre from $32990 drive away.,,, if you want low fuel use with a reasonable new price.

VAG for $33K DA? King Street is better value

How the micro/small car segment has changed, no choice and what is left is trash at $10K over the odds of what it should be.

Kia Picanto GT is my pick in the new car stakes at the moment, comes in manual, three cylinder turbo, basic formula.

Otherwise there's nothing in the segment worth buying, we've got less choice than we've ever had, if Nissan introduced the e-Power Note just under $30K DA they'd corner the small car market.

[kevino]

King St...? Karangahape Rd?

You realise the Skoda is better built than VW?

And I agree with you a e power note at 29.5k drive away -would perk my interest.

Kia Picanto-----its just too small----would be tailgated out of exisitence by Bill Bogan in his jacked up YQ Patrol, Tim Terror in his jacked up Land cruiser and Milf Suzy Why in her CX8.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Not 100% but i have heard of ones like this staying at a constant rpm, selected by which rpm is the most efficient.

Basically like an industrial generator, that's the beauty of it because you can optimise everything accordingly to be most efficient at a set RPM, rather than varying it from 750 RPM - 5500 RPM for example and having to come up with a compromise that works well between everywhere.

I'm curious to see real world figures and if it does better than the 6.8L figure everyone is throwing around, the e-Power Note also has a 1.5L 3 cylinder naturally aspirated engine running as a generator but it uses less than half the fuel, but its only got one motor not two.

I'm impressed with hybrids, mate has a hybrid Volvo SUV, we went to the city in it the other day and it was doing 5.7L/100km on the trip which is also the same as my Focus, 90% highway at 100km/h, 10% suburban driving.

Also with the comparison to the Toyota Hybrids, its not the same, those are parallel hybrids where the motor also drives the wheels like a normal car, with the electric motors assisting.

The advantage the ePower cars have is they do not drive the wheels with the motor like Toyota does, they are series hybrids and only powered by the electric motors, the engine is just a generator - it operates like a diesel electric train.

The benefit I see of this is all your power and torque at 1 RPM, with your charge time being 5 minutes to fill it up at a servo with E10 - ePower Qashqai is 140KW/330NM, whats the equivalents from the competitors? RAV4 Hybrid is 219KW/221NM - more power, but less torque by a decent margin (and at what RPM?) but they quote maximum system power output as 160KW.

I'm not sure how that works when you have 130KW + 88KW electric motor.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Not 100% but i have heard of ones like this staying at a constant rpm, selected by which rpm is the most efficient.

We use alot of machinery with a similar configuration, if these are anything like what we've got, yes, engine just hums at a low, constant rpm.

[SumoDog68]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Basically like an industrial generator, that's the beauty of it because you can optimise everything accordingly to be most efficient at a set RPM, rather than varying it from 750 RPM - 5500 RPM for example and having to come up with a compromise that works well between everywhere.

I'm curious to see real world figures and if it does better than the 6.8L figure everyone is throwing around, the e-Power Note also has a 1.5L 3 cylinder naturally aspirated engine running as a generator but it uses less than half the fuel, but its only got one motor not two.

I'm impressed with hybrids, mate has a hybrid Volvo SUV, we went to the city in it the other day and it was doing 5.7L/100km on the trip which is also the same as my Focus, 90% highway at 100km/h, 10% suburban driving.

Also with the comparison to the Toyota Hybrids, its not the same, those are parallel hybrids where the motor also drives the wheels like a normal car, with the electric motors assisting.

The advantage the ePower cars have is they do not drive the wheels with the motor like Toyota does, they are series hybrids and only powered by the electric motors, the engine is just a generator - it operates like a diesel electric train.

The benefit I see of this is all your power and torque at 1 RPM, with your charge time being 5 minutes to fill it up at a servo with E10 - ePower Qashqai is 140KW/330NM, whats the equivalents from the competitors? RAV4 Hybrid is 219KW/221NM - more power, but less torque by a decent margin (and at what RPM?) but they quote maximum system power output as 160KW.

I'm not sure how that works when you have 130KW + 88KW electric motor.

Nissan E-power is outdated system - series hybrid . With series hybrid you lose efficiency at highway speeds compared to a petrol car and in city traffic engine has to run to charge the battery so you lose efficiency compared to BEV car . There is a reason no one is doing series hybrid any more. Chevy Volt was a decent one but it had direct petrol engine mechanical connection at higher speeds .
Efficiency of series hybrid is 42% and BEV is up to 90% .Paralel hybrid is in the 40s but in real life works better than series hybrid.
For their hybrids Toyota quotes combined power and no combined torque .
RAV4 hybrid combined power is 160kW and 221Nm is petrol engine torque and combined with electric motors producing 202 Nm (front electric motor) and 121Nm for the rear electric motor. So you have 323Nm of electric torque from standing start plus Petrol engine torque when it kicks in (Nissan petrol engine has no connection to the wheels so it can't assist - i see that as disadvantage ). It is difficult to express combined torque becuase of the way drivetrain works but it has more than Nissan e-power and it is a quicker car for it.
BEV is most efficient and if you don't need massive daily range or towing , can charge at home , probably best for city driving. New Petrol /diesel are very efficient especially in long distance running and if you like hybrids , Toyota is probably the most advanced one.
Nissan e-power bypasses charging the batteries by using petrol engine as a generator , has no electric only range for city driving and has no petrol engine connected to the wheels for high speed driving .
As for charge time , i drive BEV and plug in when i get home . Car range is 450km and i use 60-80 a day . Charge time is (1h) but effectively zero compared to 5 min at the servo as it does not require any extra trip diversions .

[hackney]

Originally Posted by SumoDog68

Nissan E-power is outdated system - series hybrid . With series hybrid you lose efficiency at highway speeds compared to a petrol car and in city traffic engine has to run to charge the battery so you lose efficiency compared to BEV car . There is a reason no one is doing series hybrid any more. Chevy Volt was a decent one but it had direct petrol engine mechanical connection at higher speeds .
Efficiency of series hybrid is 42% and BEV is up to 90% .Paralel hybrid is in the 40s but in real life works better than series hybrid.
For their hybrids Toyota quotes combined power and no combined torque .
RAV4 hybrid combined power is 160kW and 221Nm is petrol engine torque and combined with electric motors producing 202 Nm (front electric motor) and 121Nm for the rear electric motor. So you have 323Nm of electric torque from standing start plus Petrol engine torque when it kicks in (Nissan petrol engine has no connection to the wheels so it can't assist - i see that as disadvantage ). It is difficult to express combined torque becuase of the way drivetrain works but it has more than Nissan e-power and it is a quicker car for it.
BEV is most efficient and if you don't need massive daily range or towing , can charge at home , probably best for city driving. New Petrol /diesel are very efficient especially in long distance running and if you like hybrids , Toyota is probably the most advanced one.
Nissan e-power bypasses charging the batteries by using petrol engine as a generator , has no electric only range for city driving and has no petrol engine connected to the wheels for high speed driving .
As for charge time , i drive BEV and plug in when i get home . Car range is 450km and i use 60-80 a day . Charge time is (1h) but effectively zero compared to 5 min at the servo as it does not require any extra trip diversions .

Honda actually has a slightly better Hybrid system.It is different & exceptionally well executed.For a more in depth analysis check out ‘Alex on Auto’s(YouTube) How does it work? Honda’s two motor hybrid system explained, or Understanding the Honda hybrid E drive.(Weber on auto’s, YouTube).

[SumoDog68]

Originally Posted by hackney

Honda actually has a slightly better Hybrid system.It is different & exceptionally well executed.For a more in depth analysis check out ‘Alex on Auto’s(YouTube) How does it work? Honda’s two motor hybrid system explained, or Understanding the Honda hybrid E drive.(Weber on auto’s, YouTube).

Better is a relative word but Honda has petrol engine direct connection to driven wheels to use the engine to drive the wheels at freeway speeds. It also has Direct EV mode to use electric motor advantage in city driving. That is what you would want from a hybrid system - to use relative advantages
of both systems.