TL;DR
Nissan has detailed its third-generation e-POWER powertrain, which uses a purpose-built gasoline engine to generate electricity for motor-driven wheels. The company says a new five-component electric unit and revised engines improve fuel efficiency and quietness over the second-generation Qashqai system; model availability and independently measured results are not specified in the report.
Nissan has detailed its third-generation e-POWER powertrain, a hybrid system in which an electric motor drives the vehicle while a gasoline engine generates electricity. The company says the update pairs a purpose-built generator engine with a new five-component electric unit to improve fuel efficiency and reduce noise compared with the second-generation system used in the Qashqai.
The revised electric unit, which Nissan calls “5-in-1,” combines the motor, reducer, inverter, increaser and generator. Nissan says the modular design improves packaging and rigidity, while shared components with its three-in-one EV powertrain can reduce parts and production investment. The company also says the integrated arrangement allows more precise assembly of rotating shafts, helping limit vibration.
Nissan attributes electrical efficiency gains to several design changes. The motor uses flat wire coils arranged with small gaps to support higher current flow. The inverter has a newer power module and double-sided cooling; Nissan says some models also use silicon carbide semiconductors, which lose less power than conventional silicon components. These changes are intended to make more generated electricity available to drive the vehicle.
The company describes two power-generation-focused engines: the HR14DDe and turbocharged ZR15DDTe. Their long-stroke design is intended to produce stable airflow inside the cylinders, allowing operation with a high compression ratio and exhaust-gas recirculation. Nissan says the turbocharged engine adds its STARC combustion concept and a large turbocharger to support output and thermal efficiency. The source provides no independent test results or quantified fuel-economy figures.
Efficiency Gains for Motor-Driven Hybrids
The design targets a trade-off at the heart of this type of hybrid: the engine must generate electricity efficiently across the situations in which the vehicle needs it, even though it does not directly drive the wheels. Nissan says its dedicated engines can run at a stable speed and combustion cycle, with activation timing independent of driving conditions and powerband. If the claimed efficiency gains hold in production vehicles, the system could reduce the fuel needed to supply the electric drive.
The changes also address noise and vibration, which affect how refined a motor-driven hybrid feels. Nissan links quieter operation to greater structural rigidity and tighter assembly tolerances. The company has not provided decibel readings, measured fuel savings, or comparisons under a named test cycle, so the size of any real-world improvement remains unquantified in the source.
How Nissan’s e-POWER System Works
Unlike a conventional hybrid in which an engine can mechanically drive the wheels, Nissan describes e-POWER as 100% motor-driven. The onboard gasoline engine generates energy for the battery and electric motor, giving the car an electric-drive character while retaining an engine as its energy source. The third-generation system builds on that arrangement rather than changing the basic driving architecture.
Nissan compares the new unit with second-generation e-POWER in the Qashqai. Its technical page also refers to a next-generation “X-in-1” approach intended to share and modularize core EV and e-POWER components, with a stated goal of reducing e-POWER costs to those of internal-combustion vehicles by 2026. That goal is not presented as an achieved result for the third-generation system.
““Since the system is 100% driven by a high-output motor,” drivers can have an EV-like experience with an onboard gasoline engine generating energy for the battery.”
— Nissan
Performance Data and Rollout
Nissan’s technical page does not give fuel-economy figures, test-cycle results, output ratings, or quantified noise reductions for the third-generation system. It also does not identify which models or markets will receive each engine, when those vehicles will go on sale, or whether all versions will use silicon carbide components. The company’s claimed improvements therefore cannot be compared quantitatively from the information provided.
Production Models and Test Results
The next useful evidence will be Nissan’s announcements naming the production vehicles and markets that will use the system, followed by vehicle specifications and fuel-economy results under stated test procedures. Those details would show how the new components perform outside the technical description and whether the company’s efficiency and quietness claims vary by model or engine.
Key Questions
What is Nissan e-POWER?
e-POWER is a motor-driven hybrid system: the electric motor drives the vehicle, while a gasoline engine generates electricity for the battery and drive system.
What changes in the third-generation system?
Nissan describes a five-component integrated electric unit and engines designed specifically for power generation. The company says these changes improve fuel efficiency and quietness compared with the second-generation Qashqai system.
Which engines are part of the system?
Nissan identifies the HR14DDe and turbocharged ZR15DDTe as power-generation-focused engines. The source does not map each engine to specific production models.
How much more fuel-efficient is it?
The technical page claims improved fuel efficiency but gives no numerical fuel-economy result or test-cycle comparison. The amount of improvement cannot be established from the published details.
When will vehicles with third-generation e-POWER go on sale?
The source page does not state a launch date, model list, or market rollout schedule. Those details remain unannounced in the material provided.
Source: hn
