Nissan’s X-Trail driven by electric, fuelled by petrol

WHEN I used to see an electric vehicle crawling along in the slow lane of a motorway, I assumed the driver was conserving battery power.

I knew what that felt like because I had been there. In the early days of EVs, on several occasions in various car models I, too, crawled back along the motorway, praying that we would get home.

Now, after what seems like a very short space of time, EVs have come on in leaps and bounds.

Range, charging times and battery power have increased greatly in the past decade with the result that there are some sophisticated EVs out there.

However, EVs generally remain an expensive option to buy, although even that is changing.

There is an issue over charging points but that is largely being addressed, though will take time — not something an impatient public always appreciates. Let’s say for now there are cars on the market that neatly fit the category of a compromise model between a car powered by a internal combustion engine and a pure electric model.

As promised last week, I have been testing the Nissan X-Trail
e-Power to see how this “compromise” works in practice.

TV adverts for the X-Trail describe in the proverbial nutshell what this car is all about.

“Driven by electric, fuelled by petrol,” purrs a female voice before adding: “So you’ll never need to plug in to recharge.”

That sentiment gets my vote — for now — because I find the whole plug-in business a bit of a chore. I think that in years to come the plug-in EV idea might just fade away.

Of course, the X-Trail with
e-Power does require fuel — good, old-fashioned petrol.

Yet, according to governments just about everywhere, the coming “fuel” for all cars will be electricity, i.e. battery power. In the here and now, Nissan’s e-Power technology seems a good way forward.

I have been driving the X-Trail on motorways, along country lanes and in tight, urban conditions — that is, with lots of quick motorway cruising, variable speeds on rural rides and stop-starting in traffic queues. The X-Trail with e-Power handled all this very well but it is up to you, the driver, how to play this.

I found if you drive with the
e-Power switched on, you can actually feel the car regenerating power as you slow down for roundabouts or descend a hill.

This is all for the good, of course, because you are allowing the engine management system to supply electric energy when you need it.

What sets e-Power apart is that the wheels are solely driven by an electric motor. This means the drive is quiet — much like a fully electric vehicle. Nissan says: “With unique e-Power technology, we feel that customers will fall in love with the feeling of an electric powertrain without the range concerns.”

A lot of car buyers seem to agree that this feature is a plus. Since its debut in September 2022, more than 100,000 customers have taken delivery of Nissan’s e-Power vehicles. The “e-Power concept” — and its future — will work as long as petrol engines are around but I feel these self-charging cars are the answer at the moment.

Of course, Nissan is not the only carmaker producing self-charging vehicles but the e-Power technology is unique to the Japanese firm and so should be appreciated for what it is: a way for reluctant but potential EV owners to ease themselves into a world without the internal combustion engine.

When EVs first appeared they didn’t get a good press simply because of range anxiety. Some brilliant automotive engineering has assuaged that.

There could be a rocky road ahead for EVs but then the global auto industry has always been like that and thrives on competition.

For the punter, the age of the electric car could turn out for the better after all because competition will bring prices of electric vehicles down and provide a wide choice of products.