We’re now living in the hybrid age. Part gas-powered, part-electrified, the tech pioneered by the likes of the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight is now so sorted and ubiquitous that the number of offerings across the board is wicked strong. Add in sky-high gas prices, and it should be no surprise that demand is through the roof. After years of inaction, Nissan seems to have picked a fortuitous time to put a hybrid system back in its most popular crossover. This is the new 2027 Nissan Rogue Hybrid, and you can expect it to be everywhere soon.
Under the hood sits a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-three that’s not the troublesome variable compression ratio unit used in the outgoing Rogue. Officially called the ZR15DDT, this engine features a static 13:1 compression ratio, a relatively low redline of 5,200 RPM, and a modest output of 148 horsepower and 171 lb.-ft. of torque. That might sound underwhelming, but the Rogue Hybrid’s engine isn’t connected to the wheels whatsoever. Instead, it simply acts as a generator to charge up a little 1.67 kWh battery pack and send juice to a much more powerful duo of electric motors. Between the front motor and the rear motor, the Rogue Hybrid actually kicks out 225 combined horsepower while offering all-wheel-drive and the shift-free smoothness you’d normally expect from an electric car. Or a diesel-electric locomotive.
That’s right, there’s no conventional transmission at all, just a single fixed gear ratio at each axle. In one fell swoop, Nissan’s eliminated all known Achilles’ heels that have troubled prior Rogues while boosting fuel economy immensely. The preliminary estimate stands at 38 combined MPG, about four MPG shy of an all-wheel-drive Toyota RAV4 but a seven-MPG improvement over the outgoing all-wheel-drive Rogue. Oh, and this isn’t a plug-in hybrid either, which should make the ownership experience much easier for people who can’t charge at home. Nissan calls this arrangement e-Power and it’s already proven itself for more than a decade overseas.
Using electric motors for propulsion has let Nissan give the new Rogue Hybrid a neat trick. You know how most EVs offer a one-pedal drive mode with strong enough regenerative braking to come to a complete stop simply by letting off the accelerator? This can do it too. Speaking of regenerative braking, because electrified vehicles blend regen with the power of the actual brakes, Nissan’s been able to use already necessary hardware to give the Rogue a chauffeur stop function that eases up on braking pressure at the last moment before a stop, with the goal of minimizing that rocking motion you get in certain Ubers.
So beyond the hybrid system, what’s the new Rogue all about? It seems the answer is toys, starting with big screens. A 12.3-inch touchscreen and size-matched digital gauge cluster are standard, while dual 14.3-inch screens are optional. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard across the range, but the big screens get native Google Maps (nice) and Google Gemini (not-so-nice). The top-spec Platinum model gets a 10-speaker Bose sound system, magnetic Qi2 wireless phone charging joins the party, and that big infotainment screen’s the perfect display for a big camera suite. In addition to your bird’s-eye view and invisible-hood off-road mode, there’s a wide-angle front camera for those tough left turns, and more surround view angles to see curbs and stuff from.
While we’re on the subject of tech, the advanced driver assistance systems in the Rogue Hybrid promise big upgrades with a new forward radar unit and a wider front camera assist, plus new software, offering measurable improvement. There’s an extra option for following distance, a promise of quicker low-speed acceleration reducing the chance of people cutting in front during traffic jams, and a claim of increased detection range resulting in smoother changes in speed. Higher trims also get hands-free traffic jam assistance and automatic lane changes on controlled-access freeways.
However, perhaps more important than the stuff that’s in the screens is the stuff that isn’t. That’s right, as more automakers keep shoving more functions into their screens, Nissan’s decided to go with buttons and switches for pretty much everything you’d want. Buttons for heated and ventilated seats, a button for the heated steering wheel, a button for bringing up the parking cameras, and buttons, switches, and even a scroll wheel for stuff like climate control, drive mode selection, activating one-pedal driving, and changing the volume on the stereo. Sure, the panels these buttons are set into look a little basic, but usability is sexy. This truly is the way, and everyone else ought to take note.
By now, you’re probably wondering what all this costs. The 2027 Nissan Rogue Hybrid starts at $37,065 including freight, or $42,845 in Canada. That’s competitive with all-wheel-drive hybrid offerings from Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai, but this cheapest SV trim won’t be the first one in showrooms. That will be the SR with the Technology Package, which adds most of the toys we’ve talked about and costs $43,065 including freight. Canada gets the SR trim first, which costs $50,845 in loonies, and you can expect the Rogue Hybrid to go on sale this autumn no matter which side of the border you live on. It may have taken ages for Nissan to bring its homegrown hybrid system across the ocean, but given where gas prices are at, it almost feels like it’s on time. Now there’s just one thing left to do: Put tire to tarmac and see what the new Rogue’s like in the real world.
Top graphic image: Nissan
I think Nissan’s design language is coming into its own. While the sides and back could be mistaken for nearly any other brand, the front is definitely uniquely Nissan.
The idea of having the ICE only be a generator is an interesting idea that I think will become more popular in the coming years. I think the Chevy Volt was the first mass-market car to do that, and it really still makes sense for many users who still have range anxiety.
I do wonder how it feels to drive this hybrid – people found CVTs to be disconcerting to drive because the RPMs of the engine didn’t match the speed they were going. I wonder if driving this Hybrid might be similar since the ICE is only a generator and thus it’s speed shouldn’t be tied to how fast the vehicle is moving.
The volt could run as a series hybrid like this, but it also had a parallel drive mode. Honda hybrids, Toyota hybrids, Ford hybrids, and probably some others have the ability to run in series operation like this, but also have the option for parallel operation.
My Highlander hybrid is a bit odd when accelerating hard enough to need the engine power (parallel operation) since the eCVT makes the engine behave just like the early CVTs where it just drones along at max power as the car accelerates. But when it’s in series mode I don’t hear the engine at all, and often don’t really notice when it turns on and off. I bet this one is similar, and maybe even less “CVT”-like.
Ford’s hybrids are ALL parallel drive mode.
Ford has a couple different hybrid systems (the explorer and F-150 hybrids are parallel-only, for example) but the light duty system used in the Maverick, the Fusion Hybrid, the C-Max, the Escape hybrid, etc, functions exactly the same as the Toyota eCVT system with a planetary gearset and two motor/generators. It can run in series, parallel, or “EV” with the engine off.
It will all depend on the torque demand. In light load situations the engine will probably cycle on and off and the engine rpm will seem high relative to vehicle speed when the engine is running. In high demand situations it will also act like a CVT with the engine running at peak power even if vehicle speed is low. In moderate load situations it will all depend on the programming, but rpm will likely be proportional to speed.
A very cool design, and they will sell all 15 of them they import each month from Japan.
Availability will be the biggest issue with this until their US plant can switch over.
Not for me but enjoy.
“That might sound underwhelming, but the Rogue Hybrid’s engine isn’t connected to the wheels whatsoever. Instead, it simply acts as a generator to charge up a little 1.67 kWh battery pack and send juice to a much more powerful duo of electric motors.”
So this is a series hybrid?
Just this morning as I was driving to work, I was thinking about series hybrids and why we don’t see very many of them. Really the only one that came to mind was the Gen1 Chevy Volt.
I greatly like the hybrid system in my ’23 Maverick hybrid. The eCVT is well matched to the hybrid drivetrain. I only wish the transition to and from gas/electric power was a little smoother.
The Volt wasn’t only a series hybrid. It operated very similarly to the Prius although the use of some additional clutches could completely decouple the engine from the transmission, but leave it coupled to the generator to support a series hybrid operating mode.
It could also operate like a conventional hybrid where power is sourced from the engine and drive motor, combining the two in a planetary gearset.
The Volt had a planetary gearset like the Maverick and could run in series or parallel. Honda hybrids are designed to do most driving in series, with only a lock-up clutch for parallel hybrid at higher speeds but no eCVT like the Toyota or Ford systems (or the Volt, or the Pacifica).
Yes, that would make this a series hybrid, instead of a parallel hybrid.
Interestingly, the Chevrolet Volt is not a pure series hybrid. In fact, it switches between series hybrid (the engine acts as a generator), parallel hybrid (the engine contributes to the motive force of the powertrain) and full-electric operation.
But yes, this Rogue is a proper series hybrid.
Yes, it’s a series hybrid.
The reason why pure series hybrids aren’t more common is that they have relatively poor transmission efficiency, which starts to hurt at constant highway speeds where the engine is always on. This can be alleviated by adding 1-3 gears for selective use at higher speeds (making it series-parallel), which is what Honda and most bigger and experienced Chinese OEMs do.
Chinese startups and smaller inexperienced OEMs use series hybrids and EREVs because they have low development costs and risks, and many of them are EVs with an engine dropped in last minute after EREVs unexpectedly became a trend (which is now already slowly dying lol).
I am curious to know how bad that transmission inefficiency is and whether the engine can be optimized to become much more efficient in a much narrower power band to outweigh those transmission inefficiencies.
“Oh, and this isn’t a plug-in hybrid either, which should make the ownership experience much easier for people who can’t charge at home.”
How? A PHEV that isn’t plugged in is exactly as convenient as a non-plug-in hybrid besides 1-2 mpg and some extra weight. An opportunistic level 2 charge here and there would easily make up for that fuel economy loss, not to mention moving somewhere home charging friendly in the future and already having a vehicle which can take advantage of it.
Plus if you only need to add maybe 40-50 miles a day, overnight charging with a common 120v outlet is fine, and never any range or charging anxiety with a real EREV
120V charging can be very inefficient, sometimes only 70%. That’s going to add up.
…can be, but depends, sometimes not as bad as that. Still better for everyone compared to running an ICE all the time.
That very much depends on what fuel you are using, how much that fuel costs, where your electricity comes from and how much it costs.
If for example your choices are running ethanol or burning electricity made from coal then ICE is the clear winner.
If OTOH your choices are middle east oil or home solar then that choice is obvious too.
For me up until a few months ago between NorCal regular gasoline prices and PG&E electricity rates the choice was heavily in favor of electricity for those with free workplace or Tesla supercharging, a wash for those with overnight home charging and heavily in favor of gasoline for those stuck with peak or public charging.
Yeah, I have had 2 PHEVs and 120 has been plenty for my daily commute and driving around town.
And you avoid the inconvenience of refueling as often.
Which can actually start to be a little bit of a hassle with the longer-range PHEVs. You have to start thinking about the age of the gasoline. I tried to time my end-of-roadtrip fill-ups to only leave 1-2 gallons in the tank, because chances are it’d sit there for months before the next time the ICE ran.
Pretty sure any decent E-REV will, like the Volt, have an on-board algorithm to make sure the ICE gets enough run time, even if your battery is full, to prevent any problems with it not getting enough exercise.
It does. It’s just annoying to run it just for the sake of burning fuel, and a full tank that gets too old will mean a lot of ICE runtime.
A swing and a miss
Needed a 15-30 kWh battery and level 1/2 charging and it would be a killer EREV.
It was originally going to launch in plug-in form before the full-hybrid, but due to the end of EV tax credits they launched the non-PHEV first. The PHEV should still be coming unless they decide to cancel it.
This is for people who don’t have the option of home/work charging.
Understood, but still I have to wonder how much more efficient it really is by going from mechanical > electrical > mechanical again vs just a really efficient ICE + hybrid and a decent eCVT transmission. Our AWD hybrid mav gets low to mid-40s mpg n town.
I think the fly in the ointment there is a really efficient ICE has to be somewhat less efficient to broaden the power band, else it will only be efficient at exactly xx.x MPH on flat ground and less so outside that number. So you either accept the diminishing returns on that direct drive or you lose overall efficiency for the sake of a wider power band.
I look at BYD’s latest offering, an ICE that yields a world record holding 48% real world TE and a laboratory TE of 49.5%. It accomplishes that by using a super deep Atkinson cycle which I expect would make it pretty useless for powering wheels directly.
Honda, Mazda, and even Chevy with the Trax are able to make button panels look better than a well-done amateur 3D print project; why can’t Nissan? And if they’re gonna do button shifters instead of an equally cheap and space-saving dial or column shifter, could they at least give Drive something more tactile than a tiny little cupcake sprinkle?
If Nissan could package a turbo three-cylinder around the hybrid system, you’d think they could also package a larger displacement N/A Atkinson cycle four-cylinder making the same power but with significantly better fuel efficiency and likely better reliability.
Even with the turbo three, I could see myself recommending this to friends instead of my usual line of “go test drive a Rav4 and see how you feel.”
They would, but 1. They don’t have an appropriate ~2.5L I4 laying around and 2. 1.5L is advantageous for displacement tax reasons in markets such as China. Because it’s running deep Miller cycle at a high compression ratio there shouldn’t be much difference in efficiency, only reliability but at least it’s a bit understressed.
What’s the efficiency of this engine? I haven’t see that released.
In the Qashqai for European and Japanese markets, which should be very similar, they claim 48% peak thermal efficiency and I swear they said 50% somewhere too. But I’ll need to check if they claimed anything for the US market.
Ah, but that would be the combined efficiency of the engine and hybrid system including regen. I’m curious what the engine efficiency on it’s own will be, but if it’s far worse than Toyota’s 41% I doubt they’ll release that.
Those numbers are engine-only and exclude regen actually. Toyota’s 41% Dynamic Force engine has been left basically unchanged since it was first released 10 years ago, so several Chinese autos and now Nissan have far surpassed it with highly optimized hybrid-specific designs in the last 2-3 years.
Toyota’s hybrid engine is a regular non-hybrid engine put into Atkinson cycle with higher compression ratio (so only cams and cylinders were changed). It still has inefficient the bore, stroke, rod ratio, etc that’s capable of revving to 6,000rpm for peak power.
Wow, didn’t know that. I can’t seem to find any sources showing a Nissan engine exceeding 41% thermal efficiency; do you have any links?
This one’s pretty vague: https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY/ARCHIVE/E_POWER50/
It seems like I’m either imagining or they removed any 48% claims, all I can find are 42%.
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-launches-3rd-generation-e-power-technology-in-europe
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/nissan-introduces-worlds-1st-valve-seat-using-cold-spray-tech-in-new-e-power-dedicated-engine
42% is better than Toyota but not really impressive compared to the Chinese which are in the 43-48% range now for their best engines.
I’ve only seen the 42% number quoted for the Nissan.
IIRC Nissan claimed 41% or so for the engine alone and up to 50% for the total hybrid system.
Has anyone driven these yet? I Googled the engine number and returned a grand total of 2 videos in Japanese.
Oh, I drove one of these in Japan, an XTrail with e-power. It was great, enough power to feel confident driving up from Tokyo to the mountains around Fuji. It sounds like a CVT since the gas engine is a generator but works fine, has good power.
What was the typical rev range when cruising? I would hope it never sees that 5,200 RPM redline.
I believe it was the Drive that reported getting to drive one, but only for min.
Interested in how much of this tech stuff and driveline parts end up in the new Xterra.
Pretty sure I read somewhere that a Nissan executive already confirmed that their next gen BOF platform will utilize a parallel hybrid arrangement based off the VQ V6. So I would imagine little to no overlap in this Rogue and the forthcoming Xterra.
I am livid. I am hurt. I am confused. Why are they doing this to me? Haven’t I been a good transmission?
No. You suck.
Ded
No, No you were not
I came here expecting no less from you in the comments.
I send my condolences.
oh jeez, CVT whine again?
You’ve been slipping for years, it’s time to move on.
No. This is the first Rogue that I read about and said to myself, “This doesn’t sound that bad.”
I’m afraid we’ve decided to move in a different direction, Mr. Jatco.
Like forward.
Rubberbanding is exactly what we expected of you.
COTD.
Your fate was sealed…
if you were a good transmission, that would make me an award winning cheese taster.
Look at it glass half full, they knew you could never be surpassed so they didn’t even try to make a successor!
No transmission, much like the one that my son recently got rid of for his mother-in-law.
I’m not saying that a device designated a transmission wasn’t present, only that it didn’t work as a transmission. It was merely a device into which energy was soaked and nothing came back out.
News Flash: Nissan installs black holes in cars.
Sounds like the new tech is essentially a series hybrid, like a diesel-electric locomotive.
Good. Those work.
This looks very promising for Nissan, the dealers must be excited. I’ll be interested to read some reviews of this. Make mine front-wheel drive, about 180-ish hp, and aim for something more like 45mpg, though.
If you can live with the vehicle answering to the name RAV4 instead of Rogue, good news! You need wait no longer.
Have you tried buying a RAV4? Back of the line, bub.
That’s kind of the point. If you wait, you’re screwed. Best bet is to clunk somebody already in line over the head and take their place.
That’s roguish behavior, all right.
BAE – big altima energy, you could say
“Between the front motor and the rear motor, the Rogue Hybrid actually kicks out 225 combined horsepower while offering all-wheel-drive”
The problem is that there would not be significant cost savings to make a bigger electric motor that only goes in a FWD model. Fuel economy gains would be nowhere near +7mpg. It would more like 39 mpg for $1000 less, which is something that would appeal to very few customers.
Man that button bank looks cheap. I’m not complaining about the buttons, but that legit looks like something you’d 3D print for a project car.
I’d just be happy the buttons aren’t piano black, surrounded by more piano black.
Though, I’d prefer the triple-dial HVAC setup that Honda is still using. That’s even better than a button panel.
“It’s the wild colour scheme that freaks me,” said Zaphod whose love affair with this ship had lasted almost three minutes into the flight, “Every time you try to operate on of these weird black controls that are labelled in black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let you know you’ve done it. What is this? Some kind of galactic hyperhearse?”― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
This is one of my favorite scenes from the entire misnamed trilogy.
I will upvote any Hitchiker’s Guide quote.
Now that you mention it, Jatco is now sounding a bit like Marvin. He’s having a bad day.
Nissan:
WE ARE A BENEVOLENT GOooooo…….automaker.
DO NOT QUESTION the ways in which we granted you the buttons you requested.
I can’t believe I found myself cheering when I saw the anti-design associated with those buttons. I’m also not 100% sure why the buttons had to be so tiny, what with over 50% of that panel being… nothing.
But they are in fact buttons so… I’ll allow it I guess.
Came here to say this, almost more jarring because the buttons look like they used nice materials.
Is the Nissan ZR15DDT engine based on the Nissan KR15DDT, the Mitsubishi 4B40, or something else?
There’s a lot Nissan can pull from, but there’s little out there on the ZR engine yet.
It’d be nice to know from what family it was derived to understand its pedigree.
I think it’s a further development of the KR family I3 but with the variable compression stuff removed.
Too bad. The variable compression system seemed to work fine, at least to the extent that sometimes it had compression and other times it didn’t.
HAHAHAHA. by definition, that is variable compression 😀
I really wish you’d stop touting this as a selling point. A PHEV can run as a hybrid if someone doesn’t want to or can’t take full advantage of the benefits. Not having the option of charging at home is a downside for those who can charge at home, not a benefit for those who can’t. The benefit of a regular hybrid is pretty much just price. Maybe a smaller battery for a lighter curb weight.
Yeah, that was weird.
The non-PHEV may be better for rated mpgs if it were never to be plugged in, just for the weight savings, but otherwise the ownership experience would be identical.
Especially since this is already set up better as a PHEV than a lot of hybrids. It already has to rely 100% on the electric motors for all driving conditions, so all it needs is a bigger battery so you can turn the generator off more.
Compared to most hybrids on the market where the electric motors aren’t quite big enough to get max acceleration or highway speeds, so you have to add battery and increase the size of the electric motors for it to operate well in electric mode.
Yeah, I would love to see this as a PHEV/EREV. Much easier in a series hybrid than parallel, and the engine working as a generator means no awkward powertrain handoff.
I need to Google this, but I thought electric motors were pretty compact and simple overall and upping the size to get the power needed wouldn’t be too big of a deal.
It’s not a *huge* deal, but it is an additional hurdle to go from hybrid to PHEV that this doesn’t have to deal with.
So it’s an EREV with no charge port?
Probably not, since the defining characteristic of an EREV is sufficient battery to cover any meaningful distance with the engine off. This is a series hybrid, and the extremely flexible torque characteristics and happy-at-most-speeds nature of the electric motor are simply obviating the need for a transmission per se.
One other benefit: A move back towards a more anthropomorphic front end. And it doesn’t even look mean! I like this better than the current trend of tiny little angry eyebrow lights and then enormous lumen cannons down by the bumper.
So, it’s entirely their own system, not Honda-based?
They’ve been using it for a while outside of North America and it’s actually on its third major iteration. IMO it’s a bit worse than Honda’s system but not a dealbreaker or anything.
I’m really struggling to see any downsides here. It looks great, the gas mileage is great, it’s done away with the two biggest failure points on modern Nissans, the interior is full of buttons, and it’s priced competitively. The Rogue was already a good car (I said it and I mean it) and a major seller as is. This is basically everything that offers but better.
And with Toyota artificially limiting RAV4 production to drive up demand and allow their dealerships to mark them up, a lot of people will be crossing the street to the Nissan dealership after being told the only RAV4 on the lot is $55,000. Anyway I’ll be curious about the driving dynamics. American journalists that got behind the wheel of the Qashqai with the same hybrid system said it was surprisingly fun to drive.
Nissan has a hit in their hands.
I agree with you, and having driven a 2024 e-Power Rogue while on vacation in Costa Rica for over 400 miles, I can see people enjoying the ride, feel, and efficiency. I was pleasantly surprised (without any qualifier like, “for a Nissan”).
And that’s the biggest issue…most people who want an appliance won’t care that it’s a Nissan, but they have to shed the “Mitsubishi-adjacent we’ll finance anyone” stigma (not to mention the Big Altima-Energy memes) to really get back to what they used to be in the 80’s and 90’s: basically an equal alternative to Toyota and Honda.
I hope they make it!
Saw a neighbor pull into their driveway with a brand new RAV4 hybrid this weekend and my first thought was, “well they overpaid to score one of those rare beasts.”
My reaction whenever I see them is “well you got got, that’s a shame”. In my area Subaru, Mazda, and Honda dealerships will sell you a hybrid midsized for under MSRP. Hell you can get any of those cars for under $40,000 at this point and not even be stuck with a penalty box trim level.
But by all means, pay the Toyota Tax, I guess. They may come out ahead in the long run, but it’s going to take 10+ years at this rate and with how dire things are looking right now I’d lean towards taking the upfront discount, especially since it’s as much as $10,000.
In fairness to the RAV4 and the fleecing some people seem willing to accept for it on the front end–if they continue to have very high resale value and the buyer spent only MSRP (which they’re listed for in my area), then total ownership cost may be comparable to competitors. It seems to have the best performance of all of them (particularly when compared to the Subaru), the CR-V has the headgasket issue, and the CX-50 is notably down on passenger and cargo space.
People need to run the numbers for their specific case.
I really hope this plays out super well for Nissan. I would love to see them pull a comeback. Like you said, this eliminates the largest concerns of modern nissans, and provides buttons for the biggest constant use needs. Its not a perfect Rav4 competitor, but it sure seems like a strong one.
There are 76 new RAV4s within 100 miles of me for less than $40K
You may want to confirm those actually exist.
Around here, nearly every listing for a RAV4 is “in transit” (best case) or “in production”.
If I use Autotrader, Cars.com, whatever your preference is, I get zero RAV4 Hybrids of any price within 100 miles of here. The dealers themselves only list “in production” examples. And boy have the Toyota dealers become brazen with how confident they are that you’ll bend over for a chance at a Toyota.
But of course, regions vary.
Zero RAV4 Hybrids within 40 miles of me.
What is special about 40 miles? I generally search at least 500.
I did. Not all 76 but a few of the cheaper ones. If we count in transit vehicles just my closest dealer says they have 77 RAV4s to sell.
Although it can be worth waiting a bit to get exactly what you want. That is what my parents did for their 2024 RAV4 Hybrid AWD. Went to the dealer, told them what they wanted for color and trim. Put down a $1000 deposit, waited 3 months, drove home their RAV4 for MSRP.
Yes, things can vary by region. Both here in Oregon and where my parents live in Michigan it isn’t hard to buy a Toyota and you can buy them for MSRP or less not pay huge markups. For those that have crappy dealers it pays to shop around and buy from a straightforward dealer even if that dealer might be out of state. There are dealers that base their business selling volume and are happy to accommodate out of state buyers.
I feel like Nissan researched how few people actually plugged in their PHEVs and decided to cost save the parts that were rarely going to be used. With a smaller battery, no charge port or on board charger, they were probably able to pull a lot of cost out.
If people didn’t plug in their PHEVs I think its most likely a lack of charging infrastructure or because the EV only range was so short its not worth the effort.
A PHEV with 50+ miles of EV only range would eliminate that second reason.
A 38mpg hybrid?? Thirty-fucking-eight?!?! That’s absurd. No.
I’d like to see how this system would do in a Sentra.
Good point. That thing it’s in is indeed the size and drag coefficient of a decent-sized brick shithouse, aye. Because everything is stupid.
Compared to the RAV4, the difference between 38 mpg and 42 mpg in terms of gallons burned per hundred miles of driving is 0.25 gal. That’s a little over a penny more in gas per mile, these days, call it $12 per thousand miles. Those 4mpg mean something very different than the 4mpg between 16 and 20 mpg.
Yes, it’s important to math before outrage.
Well, who’s got time for that when they’re angry??
Anything over 33 mpg is great imo. The next gallon saved is at 50 mpg and that’s been a bit of a steep mountain to summit. The 40 mpg ball park might be the best we end up getting in a small SUV with hybrid technology
The next gallon saved is at 50 mpg and that’s been a bit of a steep mountain to summit.
-Camry Hybrid enters the chat.
Toyota really is the king of mpg, the list of 50mpg+ cars is mostly them and Hyundai
-BYD is entering the chat.
https://autoakhbar.com/byd-new-hybrid-engine-revealed-2025/
That’s crazy but after reading the article it sounds like it’s a PHEV or EREV to get those numbers
Nope. This engine uses a super deep, super efficient Atkinson cycle:
BYD’s Xiaoyun plug-in hybrid engine has reached a production thermal efficiency of 48%, with laboratory data peaking at 49.5%. When contrasted with Toyota’s 5th Gen THS (41%) and Mazda’s SPCCI technology (theoretical 45%, but effectively 41.07% in real-world conditions), BYD has secured a structural advantage. In the diminishing returns of internal combustion engineering, a 7% lead is not an iteration; it is a generational leap.
https://voltchina.substack.com/p/beyond-the-48-efficiency-why-byds
It says it’s a PHEV though
I don’t believe that affects the engine’s thermal efficiency value. AFAIK a hybrid system doesn’t improve the peak thermal efficiency of the ICE but it does help it stay there over a wide range of conditions.
True, but 20-25% better thermal efficiency doesn’t explain a 60% better mpg rating (50 mpg vs BYD getting 81 mpg). A plug-in hybrid does though.
Maybe. It could also be greater use of peak efficiency vs off peak efficiency. Toyota’s engine may spend more time outside its sweet spot which makes some sense for a regular hybrid.
It could also be Toyota’s system is more conservative, trading total system efficiency for ease of production, reliability, etc.
One of these days will switch to the more obvious gallons per x miles so better comparisons can be made at a glance.
Probably right after the US switches to metric, and we colonize Mars.
That will happen about the time we officially switch to the metric system
Heh, here in Canada we generally use liters per 100 km, but virtually all the automotive media I consume is American, so I have very little frame of reference for anything but MPG
That is the math but very few people do TCO or cost per mile calculations when buying a vehicle. Just as logically $4.99 is not fundamentally different $5 but almost everything purchased is still prices a few cents or dollars under a major step.
Many people will see a significant difference between a hybrid with MPG that starts with a 3 vs one that starts with a 4.
How dare you use math to demonstrate that in one instance 4mpg is 25% improvement, and in the other its only 10% improvement. Its almost like the return on each MPG… I don’t know… diminishes?
How much gas can I buy for the cost of the Toyota tax?
Yarp. 38mpg is 6.19L/100km and 42mpg is 5.6L/100km
Though interestingly here, the Rav4 hybrid has been tested as low as 4.3L/100km (~54mpg).
*remembers seeing a cumulative 4.9L/100km displayed on the dash of a rented petrol European Blumotion VW Polo at the end of a 1200km roadtrip*
Sigh.
This is why liters per 100km traveled is better at visualizing savings.
38mpg = 6.19L/100km
42mpg = 5.6L/100km
So for every 100 kilometers traveled, you will burn 0.59L more fuel in the Nissan. Or $1.08 when based off the current fuel price of $1.839/L ($6.59/gal) CAD
In the 2.5hr round trip to see my mother, I won’t even have to spend an extra toonie in fuel.
Now let’s take that same comparison on improving my Excursion by 4mpg
13mpg = 18.09L/100km
17mpg = 13.84L/100km
Now, to travel that same 100km traveled, we’re talking 4.25L of fuel, a $7.82 difference in cost.
Same 4mpg gain, WILDLY different cost per mile changes.
I have no doubt these will sell. Competitive fuel economy and price, EV driving experience, and tactile controls in the cockpit?
That’s a three-point plan to successful sales, imo. I’m willing to bet this will snag people who aren’t willing to wait on a Rav4 in the colour/trim they want.
Very interesting powertrain configuration. I am curious what the real world mpg will be but this is brilliant because it can easily scale to PHEV and EREV without a whole lot of re-engineering
Looks like we’ve all run out of ideas on how to style the front end of crossovers. This combines the Lexus spindle shape with hideous insectoid headlights that remind me of those robot squids in The Matrix.
Could be a solid overall effort, otherwise. No Jatco, no VC turbo, you might have a Nissan that runs to 100K.
I thought it was a Hyundai.
It’s not a Hyundai?
It looks like Hyundai Santa Cruz lighting grafted onto a Kia Sportage front end design, but smoothed to sort of match the new Leaf.
It may wish to be a Hyundai. It certainly wants some of their sweet, sweet fast fashion attention as some astute Autopian commenter labelled the H/K design strategy.
Nissans seem to be styled like they’re trying to sell to someone’s grand parents. They all wear the same face.
Hyundai is where everything is the soup du jour.
Aw, man, I love those robot squids.