The new Nissan Qashqai was introduced for the European markets in February last year with a single turbocharged engine available in two tunes of power. There was no diesel but we heard about a hybrid model that was seen taking test rounds in November 2021. Yes, we are discussing the Qashqai E-Power, which will hit the roads in Europe in late summer.
Interestingly, the 2022 Nissan Qashqai E-Power comes with an electrified engine. It is a hybrid crossover unlike any others available for customers. The hybrid powertrain is much like we find in the Note E-Power. The only difference is a bigger mill; the Qashqai gets 1.5-litre mill while the E-Note features a 1.2-litre powerplant.
The E-Power’s Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) works as a generator and delivers power saved in a high-output battery unit. While the engine can produce 156 horsepower (115 kilowatts), the energy never goes to the wheels.
In its place, the electric power created by the turbocharged petrol mill energizes a 190-hp (140-kW) electric motor. This electric machine is of the same size, offering the same energy output that is available in Japanese automaker’ EVs.
The power produced by the internal combustion engine can go to the battery unit, the electric motor, or both through an inverter, the automaker confirms.
The idea to create such a power setup gives the ICE the ability to achieve its appropriate rpm level and compression ratio, thus improving efficacy and lowering the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
Furthermore, when you will drive such a vehicle, you will feel as you are driving an all-electric because the crossover runs through an electric motor, not the engine. In other words, you will get a quick torque release as we find in EVs and engine sounds we normally hear from ICEs.
All this has been possible through a unique Linear Tune system, the company has developed to make the driving more conventional and linked. The system observes the petrol unit and gradually improves the revolution pace to satisfy the electric motor’s power requirements.
The Linear Tune system works to remove the “disconnected” feeling normally linked to the hybrids or CVT-armed vehicles, where the swift escalation in engine revs doesn’t translate to an equal improvement in speed.
The Qashqai isn’t officially available in the Middle East but we can get our hands on a similar X-Trail here, it shares the platform with. For an e-Power setup, we can always resort to the imported vehicle market.
Source and Images: Motor1