Nissan Qashqai 2024 review: Ti e-Power long-term | Part 3

I’ve now handed back my Nissan Qashqai Ti e-Power after three motoring months, and swapped it for a weekend behind the wheel of an EV. And there were times I craved a return to ICE-assisted electricity.

See, I found myself heading down to a place on the south coast of NSW, some 2.5 hours from Sydney, and my EV charging plan was impeccable. Drive down, slow charge from the house’s electricity, drive back, done.

But my best laid plans were foiled by fly screens that simply refused to budge, meaning I couldn’t draw power from the house. Next stop was a two-hour visit to the nearest town just to take on enough charge to make it halfway back to Sydney, where another 30-minute stop at a DC fast-charger got me home, albeit about 45min later than I would have liked.

Why why am I telling you all this in a farewell to a hybrid vehicle? Because Nissan describes its e-Power technology as a bridge to full electrification. And there are times I’m very happy to stay on the ICE side of that bridge.

I’m no EV hater, either. I think they drive better than their ICE counterparts, plus they are quieter and more comfortable, and considerably cheaper to run. And if you spend the vast bulk of your time in the city, and have somewhere to charge it, an electric vehicle makes perfect sense.

But that’s the really clever thing about the Qashqai e-Power. It delivers that same comfortable and mostly quiet drive experience, but you’ll never find yourself frantically trying to jemmy the fly screens off the windows of an Airbnb at 11pm, either.

As far as hybrids go, the Nissan is unique in that it probably feels the closest to delivering that EV drive experience more of the time. Some hybrids can feel a little harsh when the engine kicks in, and can drone through their (usually CVT) transmissions.

But the Qashqai deploys a degree of subtlety as it goes about its business, feeling like an EV a lot of the time, even if the petrol engine kicks in at will or if you're too heavy with the accelerator.

The downside to all of this, though, is that you do need to pay for the privilege, and the Qashqai isn't quite as fuel efficient as its core rivals.

On average, we've been sitting at between 6.0 and 7.0 litres per hundred kilometres, though to be fair, I haven't been engaging 'Eco' mode (which depletes accelerator responsiveness and a driver's will to live), so I probably could have driven that number lower.

Still, it has been busy on the car front since I dropped the Qashqai back, so I've also spent some time between the wheel of the new Haval Jolion Hybrid, and while it doesn't feel nearly as polished as Nissan's offering, it is massively cheaper, as $38,990 for the top-spec model. Plus it feels bigger inside.

The Qashqai e-Power, as we know, is more like $50K+ on the road if there aren't any special offers kicking around.

But that actually hasn't turned me off recommending the Qashqai e-Power. It's expensive, yes, but it feels it, too. And, for now, it remains a unique approach to the hybrid thing. And value is always relative. 

Besides, a simple fact of EV life is that it isn't for everybody. Or at least, it isn't yet. And hybrids (and plug-in hybrids) have an important role to play in reducing emissions, and lowering fuel bills, in the meantime.

And while expensive, the Nissan Qashqai Ti e-Power isn't a vehicle that feels like your sacrificing anything to do your bit.

Acquired: July, 2024
Distance travelled this month: 898km
Odometer: 5502km
Average fuel consumption this month: 6.3L/100km