Over the past seven years, two things have happened in the car world: Hybrids have exploded in popularity, and Nissan hasn’t offered a single normal hybrid in America. Mind you, it’s not like many people noticed the last Nissan Rogue Hybrid. Not only was it sold for just two model years, most of America couldn’t buy it at all. Nissan only offered this 176-horsepower electrified crossover in select states, making it a relatively niche proposition. However, the 2027 model year brings with it the new Nissan Rogue ePower that’s shaking off the continuously variable transmission once and for all.
Let’s start with the big news: The Nissan Rogue ePower, on sale later this year, uses a series hybrid setup that Nissan calls ePower. It’s been on sale around the globe for years now, and the premise is simple: the engine simply acts as a generator and an electric motor on each axle drives the wheels. Like any other normal non-plug-in hybrid, there’s a small battery pack to store energy generated by either the engine or regenerative braking, but that’s about it for extra components. No clutch to connect the engine to the wheels, no planetary gears, no transmission at all. It sounds like one smooth way to ditch the Xtronic CVT’s reputation for flimsiness, although key specifications like power, engine size, battery capacity, and fuel economy haven’t been released yet.
While the outgoing Nissan Rogue was basically the second C-segment crossover to adopt a split headlamp treatment, this fourth-generation model is over it. Instead, it gets chevron-shaped clusters either side of a glossy black grille. Admittedly, there is a whiff of supersized Lexus Darth Vader-face to the grille’s general graphic, and some Kia Sportage who-stole-my-face? to the sheer size of it, but the various hexagonal inner elements help deflect from that.
Around the side, the next Nissan Rogue continues to shake off the image of old with some rather daring surfacing. That harsh diagonal line down the quarter panel and door almost make this crossover look like it’s molting, with similar angularity to the front fenders attempting to balance things. Love it or hate it, this thing won’t be confused for its predecessor in a parking lot.
Actually, context might be the most fascinating thing about the new Nissan Rogue because the outgoing model was something of a weather vane. While competitors’ next-generation design freezes were likely in place when Nissan’s third-generation compact crossover went on sale in 2020, it was one of the first compact crossovers to get markedly more blocky. From Chevrolet to Toyota, almost everyone else seemed to follow. The big break from this trend? The chrome-faced, geometrically-surfaced Hyundai Tucson. Come to think of it, maybe the weather vane’s changed.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the new Nissan Rogue ePower. What the interior’s like, how powerful it is, what sort of fuel economy is expected, and how much it will cost. However, by ditching the CVT and going hybrid, Nissan will finally have a rival for the new Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V Hybrid, the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, and the Kia Sportage Hybrid. This thing might be late to the party, but it’s still exactly what Nissan needed.
[Editor’s Note: Apologies for the brain flatulence. This system is, of course, a series hybrid, not a parallel hybrid, as the engine does not drive the wheels directly. Sorry about that, and thanks for pointing it out.]
Top graphic image: Nissan
Would it be too crazy for Nissan to just reset and pretend like their last 25 years of bizarre styling adventures never happened and start over like it’s 1999? I mean this looks sharper than much of their recent work but if I didn’t see the badge I’d assume it was a Hyundai product.
I’m impressed to see modern electronics seem to have system efficiency of a series hybrid more than on par with CVT’s.
Good luck. I am absolutely rooting for Nissan at this point; I’ve had my fun referring to it as “the saddest car brand currently for sale” in recent years. (This was made easier after I’d unloaded my money-pit of a 2004 G35.)
This hybrid system ought to work just fine, I figure, since there are several hundred diesel locomotives out there that use a pretty similar approach.
I do wonder how it’ll be marketed. Just emphasize the mpgs (mspg?) and let people figure out how power is delivered to the wheels, I guess.
The fully electric drive will give much nicer response and driveability, so they’d be stupid not to highlight that as a unique selling point.
It certainly has been mentioned on their ads down under.
“Series hybrid” makes me think Mitsubishi. This system could essentially be the Mitsu PHEV system without the plug. Then again, Mitsubishi will be putting their first-ever parallel hybrid into the Outlander next year, so things are really topsy-turvy.
Yeah we’ll have to see if this system holds up. Less moving parts instead of more and no cvt are certainly moves in the right direction. But time will tell if they only sell it to fleets and credit scores in the double digits again…
The only time I think about the current Rogue is when Hertz tries to give me one and I give it back. This could change that! I look forward to picking one up at Sky Harbor or wherever next year.
I drove an X-Trail hybrid (the current version we don’t get) in Costa Rica last July over most of the central and northern parts of the country from Avis. I have to say I was impressed with how smooth and sure-footed it was, and I covered over 400 miles over varied terrain with an observed 38 mpg as well. I hope this does well for Nissan!
I mean, I don’t hate it. It is certainly going to be “an car”. I doubt it’ll be available with an options mix that will make ME want to buy it, but I bet it’ll be great for just about everyone in the market for that size of transportation appliance. Now, Nissan just needs to epower ALL THE THINGS, including the Sentra, the Frontier, Xterra, etc., scaling the engine, motors, and battery pack as needed.
Now, if they wanted to sell ME one, it’d have a bigger battery, be a PHEV, and have a ventilated seat option, and come in some fun colors. But no car maker loves me enough to cater to my very specific whims.