Nissan Note e-PowerDavid Booth / Driving TOKYO It may seem odd that Nissan one of the largest purveyors of battery-powered electric vehicles, having moved almost half a million Leaf hatchbacks these last 10 years doesnt offer even a single hybrid model.In Canada, that is. In Japan, on the other hand, the companys e-Power models are very popular, the unique electrified powertrain responsible, says the company, for taking the companys Note hatchback from a lowly 14th spot on the compact segments sales chart all the way to number one. More importantly, of the 140,000 or so Notes that Nissan sells annually in the Land of the Rising sun, fully two-thirds of them are hybrids.So, why cant we buy e-Power powertrain in Canada? To find out, we drove an electrified 2019 Note around a post-Typhoon-Hagibis-but-still-drenched Tokyo. Heres what we found out.Nissan marches to the tune of a different e-drummerNissans e-Power system is whats referred to as a series hybrid powertrain. Thats as compared to the more common as in, the Toyota Prius parallel hybrid. So, while in a Prius, both gasoline engine and electric motor can both drive the wheels hence working in parallel the little 1.2-litre three-cylinder in the Note only generates electricity, either charging the on-board 1.5 kWh lithium-ion battery or sending electrons directly to the electric motor. Essentially, its an electric car with a gasoline-powered generator on board to keep the small-ish battery topped up. Or, another way to look at it might be as a Chevy Volt which also used its gas engine as a generator without the larger battery. The Note e-Power never needs to be plugged inWithout a large, EV-like battery, the Note gets most of its electricity from its gasoline engine. Oh, it can go a couple of clicks on that smallish battery alone and, like all hybrids, can recharge the battery via regenerative braking. But for all intents and purposes, the primary energy source for its electric is that little 1.2L has engine. In other words, the gas engine, like say a Toyota Prius, is always on.Where the two differ and why Nissan says e-Power is more efficient than Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive is that because the gas engine is a generator (and again, not connected to the wheels), it operates at a fairly constant speed (usually between 2,000 and 3,500 rpm). Gas engines, as engineers and gearheads know, are always most efficient when operating at a steady speed one of the reasons why fuel economy is always better on the highway so Nissans decision to go with the series hybrid layout is theoretically more efficient.And it is. Notes are rated by Japans JC08 test cycle for to be able to travel 34 kilometres on a single litre of fuel. In Canadian terms, thats about 3.0 L/100 kilometres more frugal than the Prius. Of course, Japans testing regime isnt quite as tough as ours, but its probably not a stretch to say that the Note would still be more efficient in Canadian use.It drives like an electric carThere should be no surprise that Note e-Power drives like an electric car: It is, after all, an electric car, the only thing driving its front wheels being the little 80 kW electric motor. So, unlike a parallel hybrid again, the Toyota Prius is the most popular example the onboard gas engine doesnt really change engine speed when you push the throttle. Oh, mash it hard and the revs will climb, but thats just the little engine trying to generate more electricity, not power the wheels. What I am trying to say is theres neither a direct connection between throttle and wheels, nor a connection between the speed youre travelling and the noise from the engine compartment. Throttle response, meanwhile, is typical EV. Though the Note only boasts 80 kW 107 horsepower it feels pretty peppy off the line all the electric motor torque at zero rpm generating instant git-up-and-go. Nissan showed us some charts they claim reveals that the Note feels sportier than Competitor As 2.0-litre turbo-four, but while the little runabout reacts quickly, ultimately its not a sports car. Pushed much beyond 100 km/h, and the Note starts to lose its verve. That, of course should be expected; after all, it does boast about the same power as Nissan’s own Micra. And not matter how adroitly Nissan positions the Micra as a racecar, these are but econoboxes.The pricing isn’t stupidThe cheapest you can buy an e-Powered Note in Japan is 1,937,100 Yen, or just a tad under $24,000 in Canadian loonies. That compares to 1,447,600 Yen for the base gas-powered version, an increase of roughly $5,874 or 34 per cent. For that jump, one gets brisker initial acceleration (but less passing ability above 100 km/h) and a roughly 50 per cent reduction in fuel consumption. Im not sure how well the long-term affordability equation works as far as I can see, Japanese gas is roughly the same price as ours but whatever the exact long-term overall cost equation, the electrified Note doesnt seem
Origin: 5 things we learned driving the Japan-only Nissan Note e-Power