Forget The Nissan Leaf, The Kicks E-Power Is What Nosotros Should Hold Upward Excited About

Currently, Nissan is shifting its EV educational activity crusade into high gear probable because of the impending launch of its commencement all-electric vehicle locally, the Leaf. Now, piece that’s all good, my eyes are fixed squarely on what I mean value offers the best solution for our local route conditions: the Nissan Kicks e-Power.

If the Nissan Kicks sounds familiar, it should be. It’s the less funky, only to a greater extent than practical replacement to the sub-compact Juke. And given it’s been out globally since 2016, it’s too been a long fourth dimension coming.

Well, patience is sure enough a virtue. It’s been confirmed that Thailand volition serve every bit the production hub for the Kicks for Southeast Asia, together with larn this: it’s launching in that location this March.

Now, it’s difficult to imagine what gets me excited over a three-year former crossover, until the possibility of it beingness equipped alongside Nissan’s e-Power system.

I’ve tackled how the Nissan e-Power works before, only inwards gist:

The Nissan e-Power organization differs from traditional hybrids or purely electrical vehicles inwards that the organization uses the gasoline engine exclusively every bit a ability generator. This is together with hence connected to an inverter, a battery, together with an electrical motor which drives the wheels.

Basically, it’s an EV without whatever plugging requirements or attain anxiety. How cool’s that?

Now, Nissan hasn’t revealed much inwards agency of mechanical details for the Kicks e-Power, only the probable candidate is the 1.2-liter 3-cylinder engine (HR12DE) flora inwards the Nippon marketplace Note e-Power. If that’s the case, human face the same electrical motor—a 108 horsepower, 254 Nm of torque unit of measurement to brand its agency into the sub-compact SUV every bit well. If the Kicks e-Power performs the same every bit the Note e-Power, human face a fuel economic scheme inwards the attain of 37 km/L.

Along alongside the introduction of e-Power, Nissan is too giving the Kicks a mid-cycle refresh. This makes it a real opportune fourth dimension for Nissan to convey it into the country.

As for pricing, because the e-Power organization requires a much smaller battery than something inwards the Leaf (plus it’s sourced inwards ASEAN—free trade, anyone?), it could real good endure positioned every bit the country’s most affordable “Electric Vehicle.” Sources tell that the e-Power organization adds nearly 17 pct to the cost of a similarly-priced version which could hateful that the Kicks e-Power could come upwards inwards at nearly P 1.2 million—the same cost every bit the electrical flow Juke 1.6 alongside the NISMO trunk kit.