- 1 day ago
The refreshed Nissan Qashqai e-Power aims to be quieter, quicker and more efficient—but can this familiar family crossover keep pace with Chinese rivals? This test drive and review explores the subtle design updates, practical 436-litre boot, rear-seat space and cabin changes, including Google Maps, wireless Android Auto and physical controls.
On the road, the series-hybrid system delivers electric-motor acceleration, with real-world fuel economy around 4.5–5 L/100 km in the test. We also assess driving comfort, noise, parking technology and the price of the Tekna+ model. A detailed Nissan Qashqai review for anyone researching hybrid SUVs, e-Power fuel economy, family-car practicality and alternatives to Chinese crossovers.
On the road, the series-hybrid system delivers electric-motor acceleration, with real-world fuel economy around 4.5–5 L/100 km in the test. We also assess driving comfort, noise, parking technology and the price of the Tekna+ model. A detailed Nissan Qashqai review for anyone researching hybrid SUVs, e-Power fuel economy, family-car practicality and alternatives to Chinese crossovers.
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MotorTranscript
00:00nissan has quietly improved the qashqai it's supposed to be more efficient quieter and
00:04quicker but is it enough to keep up with the chinese competition let's find out
00:14what's changed here visually nissan has decided to further enlarge the radiator grill
00:19the opening remains unchanged but there is more black plastic around it so from a distance it
00:25looks larger in my omoda 5 review i said that it looks like a facelifted third generation qashqai or
00:31maybe the qashqai looks like the omoda 5 from the front let me know in the comment section below
00:38at the rear we have a new tail lamp signature design while the shape of the housings remains unchanged
00:45however the bumpers are different but that's about it for exterior changes the boot remains unchanged
00:52depending on the powertrain and options its capacity ranges from 436 to 504 liters the higher the trim
01:00level the smaller the boot volume this is a techna plus so the official boot capacity is 436 liters
01:08i like that the double floor is actually split into two halves so putting one of the parts vertically
01:15allows you to divide the cargo area into two sections and that's useful on the other hand i don't like
01:20the
01:20fact that when you lower the floor completely you get this 15 centimeter threshold here between the
01:29backrests and the lower part of the boot the boot dimensions with the floor in its upper position
01:35are 85 centimeters deep from the sill to the second row backrest 108 centimeters wide between the wheel
01:42arches and 40 centimeters from the floor to the partial shelf the partial shelf fits under the floor
01:49however i'm not a fan of the plastic housing for some hybrid system component the underfloor storage
01:57subtracts 15 centimeters from the depth but adds 10 centimeters to the height nissan's stated boot
02:03capacity is accurate then there's the sound deadening lining under which depending on the trim level and
02:11drivetrain version there can be a subwoofer a spare tire or additional storage space and now my three
02:19random suitcases test at first glance it seems there is not enough height and when i dropped the floor
02:28i was concerned about the depth but everything fits snugly but it fits and what if i add a golf
02:36bag
02:37okay i'm cheating a bit because a proper golf player surely has a bag stuffed with things and also i
02:44had to
02:45take the parcel shelf off its hinges but you know what today i'm in a good mood so it's a
02:50pass
02:57check out how wide the doors open this is 90 degrees toyota take notes okay so
03:06no real changes in the rear leg room and headroom are still okay ish the backrest angle still isn't
03:14adjustable the backrest splits 40 60 there is no ski hatch behind the armrest cup holders are tight the
03:22door pockets are spacious though there is still an air conditioning vent there are two usb c ports before
03:27one of them was usba there is still a tunnel running through the middle which is not ideal and yeah
03:34the
03:35doors still cover the seals there are some changes in the front but they are subtle so we have like
03:43refreshed graphics on the virtual instrument cluster i get the impression that before the facelift there
03:50was none of that minimalist mode further due to the introduction of the mandatory safety features nissan
03:57has introduced new menu items dedicated to disabling some of those annoying beepers it's not as simple
04:04as in renault with which nissan is in an alliance but the principle is similar you can configure a
04:10personal mode which disables certain safety features then this mode needs to be activated each
04:16time you start the car two clicks of physical buttons on the steering wheel and you're done now
04:23buttons we've reached a time when me noticing physical switchgear is a vital part of every car review
04:29many car makers have lost their way and started shoving touch controls everywhere fortunately
04:35nissan has never strayed from its path even if some might consider it somewhat outdated i have the
04:41impression that nissan's collaboration with dong feng in china doesn't translate directly to products
04:47offered in other markets the n7 and nx8 which i saw at the beijing auto show have that generic chinese
04:53interface with two screens and two scroll wheels on the steering wheel but european models fortunately
04:59are designed with old timers like me in mind who like to press buttons rather than click screens
05:06speaking of clicking on the screen the cash kai now has android automotive you can log in with your
05:12google account and access your navigation data apps etc instead of that awful oem navigation the default is
05:20now google maps and if you want to use android auto it is now finally wireless interestingly most of the
05:28vehicle settings are now on the display in front of the driver and the central display screen mainly
05:34features multimedia and system settings beneath the screen are several physical buttons including those
05:40for the 360 cameras and that's a plus on the downside this panel reflects the image from above the car
05:47so
05:47when you're driving down the street every few seconds in the corner of your eye you see a reflection of
05:53a lamp post
05:55you can probably get used to it but it also dulls your reflexes as you might miss something really
06:01important in your peripheral vision next there's the climate control panel with physical buttons and knobs
06:07the button layout after the facelift is slightly different than before below is a wireless charger which nissan
06:15seems to have finally widened because previously larger smartphones wouldn't fit the charger itself
06:20mainly heats the phone but it doesn't charge very well
06:26then there's the drive selector and buttons for automatic parking e-pedal drive modes more on all of this
06:34in a moment when we hit the road then we have cup holders which in my opinion are too far
06:40back and
06:41therefore difficult to reach on the plus side they are quite large so they will accommodate larger vessels
06:48then there is a double storage compartment under the armrest with two usbc ports in it the armrest
06:55too is too far back and my elbow slips from it and before you tell me i'm too short let
07:00me add that seat
07:01and steering wheel adjustment range don't have much more room for much taller drivers also you sit quite high
07:10kind of like on a chair but the qashqai has gone from being a car for the young and dynamic
07:14crowd
07:15to a car for those who are young at heart at best this model will soon be 20 years old
07:21now the glove box
07:24is on the small side but the door pockets are large
07:39depending on the market you can order the qashqai with a 1.3 liter mild hybrid four-cylinder petrol engine
07:45producing 158 horsepower that's front wheel drive or all-wheel drive other alternative is the new
07:52generation of the e-power series hybrid where the three-cylinder 1.5 liter petrol engine serves as the
07:57generator the electric motor in the qashqai e-power generates 190 horsepower which is the car's stated
08:05power output the combustion engine produces 158 horsepower but in this case power doesn't sum up because in a
08:12series hybrid there is no connection between the combustion engine and the wheels
08:20so when i press the accelerator pedal i'm propelled by an electric motor which draws energy from a
08:272.1 kilowatt hour traction battery the battery capacity remained unchanged when the battery's energy
08:33level drops below a certain level the combustion generator kicks in to recharge the battery
08:41furthermore the battery can also be recharged during regenerative braking which is achieved by using the
08:48e-pedal mode this isn't full one-pedal driving as below a certain speed the car will crawl but in
08:55normal
08:56use i only press the brake pedal when i really want to stop the car in traffic
09:04although nissan states that the qashqai e-power has 190 horsepower in sport mode it actually has 205
09:11horsepower the claimed 0 to 100 kilometers per hour time is 7.9 seconds but that's probably also in normal
09:18mode i got 7.7 seconds in normal mode and 7.4 seconds in sport mode with the old e
09:26-power drivetrain the
09:27qashqai was slower than claimed and the fuel economy was off the claimed range as well
09:36in the new version the qashqai is not only faster but also more fuel efficient while i didn't manage to
09:42get below four liters per 100 kilometers which nissan claims i got four and a half without too much of
09:50a
09:50struggle and five liters is easily achievable i didn't use eco mode by the way anyway that's still
09:57better than six seven liters in the old e-power version now in the press release nissan also claims
10:01that the new qashqai is quieter at speeds of up to around 90 kilometers per hour it's noticeably better
10:07above that speed the wind noise and the generator noise become obtrusive and the cold start of the
10:13engine is quite unpleasant once it warms up it's much better however overall the qashqai is definitely
10:20quieter and more enjoyable under hard acceleration than it used to be the combustion generator doesn't
10:26whine like in the old e-power the hybrid qashqai accelerates almost like an electric car but it also
10:33doesn't sound like a toyota hybrid with an ecvt compared to other legacy automakers that try to be
10:41modern by designing cars for the chinese the nissan qashqai is pleasantly ordinary and stress-free
10:48the assistance systems are unobtrusive and the adaptive cruise control is predictable perfect
10:58visibility is good the 360 camera system helps with maneuvering although i don't like that during
11:04certain maneuvers switching from reverse to forward immediately turns off the camera and to see the
11:10front camera feed you have to press a button on the dashboard now reversing into my three meter gate
11:17from a four meter wide street the turning circle for the qashqai is 11.1 meters which sounds like a
11:24lot but
11:24nissan only provides a wall-to-wall value rather than curb curb which should be less as we don't have
11:31to worry about mirrors still reversing into my driveway is a breeze the car's barely 442 centimeters long
11:39so it's really no problem i also tested nissan's automatic ish parking feature the system shows where
11:48it wants to park but it's not necessarily a marked parking spot so you have to correct it by moving
11:54the parking box on the screen sometimes the camera cannot see the actual parking spot so basically it
12:21doesn't work
12:23one thing that hasn't changed is that undercarriage cover which ends abruptly on the passenger side it's
12:29fine on the driver's side so i don't know what's up with it here probably journalists doomsaying
12:35didn't materialize and there were no mass incidents of this cover getting ripped off while reversing in
12:41rough terrain i mean qashqai rough terrain right anyway so nissan had no incentive to do anything about it
12:49and now we have to address the pricey elephant in the room in the configurator nissan qashqai prices start at
12:5634 540 euro in germany and 31 145 pounds in the uk and that's poverty spec now take any chinese
13:07crossover
13:07similar or larger and you're likely to pay less for a better equipped car possibly even with a plug-in
13:14hybrid powertrain this test car with options costs fifty thousand seven hundred and seventy euro in
13:20germany versus a jacu 7 ph ev for just under 40 grand and forty three thousand nine hundred and eighty
13:28five pounds in the uk versus a hybrid timo range rover for just thirty thousand five hundred and ten
13:34pounds unless nissan and nissan dealers are willing to make you a very good offer you're likely to accept
13:42whatever minor inconvenience and you can keep more than 10 grand in your pocket
13:4910 years ago i'd laugh at nissan for falling behind the competition today i think this is its
13:54greatest advantage nissan qashqai didn't suddenly become a better car however compared to its competition
14:00trying to out screen the chinese the qashqai has become honestly less bad and what do you think
14:07about the refresh nissan qashqai let me know in the comment section below if you like my sarcastic
14:15down-to-earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday at 3 pm central european time
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14:28thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one