Nissan Note e-Power electric hatchback’s batteries draw power from a small petrol engine meeting plug-in requirements; has been very successful in Japan
The second-generation Nissan Note was spotted testing in Chennai recently where Renault-Nissan’s plant is located and it has been snapped again locally in India. As the spy shots suggested earlier, the five-seater mini MPV did wear a e-Power badge this time around too but with orange colour scheme. Based on the V-platform, it could have been imported just for testing purpose or there was more brewing under the curtain?
Apparently so, as the testing of the e-Power technology has confirmed by Daniele Schillaci, Nissan Motor Co-Executive Vice-President of global sales and marketing in India, Indonesia and Thailand. Nissan could launch its Note e-Power electric hatchback locally. According to media reports, the Japanese automaker is considering to enter less contested and explored segment of the Indian market. This car has received immense success in the Japanese market and inspired it, the automaker is aiming to launch it in several global markets and India could be one of them.
Nissan Note e-Power is an unique car in terms of its powertrain technology. Despite being a compact hybrid car, it works like an electric hatchback that doesn’t need to be plugged in. Batteries of this car draw energy from a 1.2-litre inline three cylinder petrol engine onboard simplifying the plug-in requirements. The car is claimed to be capable of producing 109 bhp of peak power and 254 Nm of peak torque combined.
The engine under the hood of the Nissan Note e-Power doesn’t deliver power to the wheels directly, which helps it to operate at optimum rpms and thus maximising the efficiency. The Nissan Note e-Power runs solely on electric power, while the parallel hybrid cars from Honda and Toyota can run on both the petrol engine and electric motor. This way, the Nissan car acts as a pure electric vehicle.
The 1.2-litre petrol engine under the hood acts solely as a generator, therefore it emits no pollutants to the environment at all. So it can be easily said that the Nissan Note e-Power comes with its own power generating station.
This means you don’t need to recharge the batteries in the car using socket, but fill the fuel tank with conventional petrol and drive free. The hatchback comes equipped with three different drive modes, which are Normal, Smart and Eco. Transmission duty is done by an automatic system and the Note e-Power is claimed to be capable of return 34 kmpl of fuel efficiency.
The hatchback carries a small 1.5 kWh battery pack, which 1/20 the size of the Nissan Leaf EV. This way it has been able to reduce the cost and weight and the interior also becomes spacious. The battery pack is tucked below the front seat ensuring no space crunch inside the cabin. But, due to the small size, the battery needs to be charged often. That’s the only time, you will feel that this unique car is not so silent at all as the petrol engine starts to charge the battery.
Nissan Note e-Power Gallery
Spy Source: Motorbeam and TeamBHP