► It’s a new version of the Nissan Qashqai!
► No, honest! It has a new hybrid powertrain
► It’s quieter and more efficient than before
The Nissan Qashqai is a true automotive success story. More than four million examples have rolled off the production line so far – and, after Nissan facelifted the car in 2024, demand is on the rise again. The Qashqai clinched the top spot in the UK’s new car sales charts in June 2025, with more than 5000 cars sold that month alone.
To put the Qashqai’s popularity into perspective, the Kia Sportage claimed seventh place with just under 3400 units sold, while the Hyundai Tucson didn’t even make the top 10. So, you’d think that Nissan could now just sit back, relax and reap the benefits of its facelift investment. But you’d be wrong.
Nissan has updated the Qashqai once again with a new e-Power hybrid system which it claims can deliver better fuel economy, greater refinement and lower emissions. It works the same way as before, too, in the sense that the petrol engine isn’t connected to the road. Its only job is to produce electricity to drive the motor.
To find out whether Nissan’s efforts have been worthwhile, I travelled to Spain to sample the new powertrain ahead of its arrival on UK shores this September. Scroll down to find out whether the investment has been transformative.
Should I buy a Nissan Qashqai? Four million drivers can’t be wrong. And this new e-Power system drives exactly the same as the old one. If you can afford it, I don’t see why not. Just remember the Dacia Bigster is a far cheaper and similarly efficient alternative.
At a glance
Pros: Better fuel economy, slightly more power, marginally improved refinement
Cons: Laggy power delivery, handling could do with more polish, Bigster is far cheaper
What’s new?
Everything under the bonnet. You get a new 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that Nissan states, thanks to its leaner combustion cycle, is more frugal than the old car’s. It has a thermal efficiency of 42 percent, which is mightily impressive when you consider most petrol cars only muster a thermal efficiency of around 30 percent.
The engine is supported by a bigger and cleverer turbocharger, allowing it to produce more torque sooner in its rev range. The result is the engine doesn’t need to spin as quickly to generate electricity, as it now has enough grunt to mash against the generator’s gear reducer almost on tick over. Nissan also says it’s managed to trim 200rpm off the engine’s average speed on the motorway, which is great for both fuel economy and refinement.
To help keep production costs low, Nissan raided its EV parts bin and pinched the third-generation Leaf’s motor and inverter. It’s also packaged the engine, generator, motor and all the technical gubbins required to produce and distribute electricity into a more compact brick. That increased the powertrain’s rigidity by 60 percent and shaved 28kg off the car’s kerb weight. So far, so good.
There’s a couple of cosmetic tweaks, too. For starters, Nissan has attached some new air dams to the front bumper to push air away from the alloys and reduce drag. The infotainment system has also been updated with some new Google software and the brakes have been redesigned to allow Nissan to fit the cheapest Acenta model with some smaller (and hopefully more comfortable) 17-inch alloy wheels.
In summary, this update represents a lot of incremental changes rather than a total revolution. But Nissan is adamant these tiny tweaks all add up to a big difference.
What are the specs?
Surprise! They’re incrementally better than before. Torque is the same at 243 lb ft, but power has increased from 188bhp to 202bhp, CO2 emissions have reduced from 116g/km to 102g/km and the car’s 0–62mph time is now 7.6 seconds, down from 7.9 seconds.
Most importantly, though, Nissan’s improved e-Power system is more fuel efficient. According to the real-world ADAC testing protocol, the powertrain now has an official fuel economy figure of 52.3mpg, compared to 44.8mpg for the old Qashqai e-Power. Nissan explained how this also allows the updated Qashqai to cover around 620 miles (1000km) of real-world driving between fuel stops.
How does it drive?
It’s exactly the same as the old car. Shocking, I know. You really need to concentrate hard to tell the difference between the two powertrains. Even I struggled – and I had the luxury of comparing the new car with the old one at the launch event. Here’s what I found, though.
The new e-Power system is ever-so slightly quieter than the old one. The engine is less noisy when you accelerate hard and the drone it makes when you’re cruising down the motorway is less noticeable. However, the old Qashqai e-Power wasn’t exactly a thrash box, so I’m struggling to understand why Nissan has gone to all this effort for a mere 5.6dB reduction to the amount of sound penetrating the cabin.
The steering is also slightly less nervous at speed. The old Qashqai’s rack was quite quick off-centre, which I always found odd for a car that’s supposed to be a comfortable, refined long-distance cruiser. It’s mended now. And, happily, Nissan hasn’t slowed it down so much that it’s a chore to pedal down a twisty B-road.
But everything else about car’s driving experience is unchanged. I’d love to tell you that the 28kg Nissan has carved out of the powertrain has transformed the Qashqai’s front-end grip and balanced out its weight distribution to make it more predictable in corners – but I couldn’t tell the difference. It’s damn-near identical.
That also means this new e-Power retains some of the old model’s foibles. Nissan says the powertrain is supposed to deliver the performance characteristics of an EV – but that claim is writing cheques the hardware can’t cash.
Acceleration isn’t anywhere near as urgent as a similarly sized electric SUV (such as a Ford Explorer or Renault Scenic), as there’s a significant delay between when you tread on the accelerator pedal and when the car lurches forwards. You need to wait for the engine to wind up and provide an extra boost of electricity to feed the motor.
And even though Nissan has quietened down this new e-Power system, it still moos when you floor it. It doesn’t sound like the new engine is labouring quite as hard the old one, though – and if you’re driving less spiritedly, you’ll hardly ever hear it.
The Qashqai e-Power has an EV mode but, because its battery only has a capacity of 2.1kWh, you can’t go very far without waking the engine. Your best bet is to leave the car to decide for itself when to use its power sources. By doing that, I achieved a little over 50mpg – and I wasn’t driving especially cautiously.
The Qashqai’s ride isn’t terrible, but there’s room for improvement. The enormous 20-inch alloys fitted to my test car made it feel a little jittery over potholes and ridges, although it settled down well once I found an unbroken stretch of tarmac. I’m looking forward to driving the entry-level Acenta trim, as its smaller alloys and thicker tyres should better cushion occupants from pockmarks.
Where the Qashqai really shines is in its low-speed manoeuvring. Owing to a deft set of optional parking cameras, the car can provide you with a comprehensive perspective of your surroundings. Parking has truly never been so easy, which will no doubt appeal greatly to urban residents with plenty of high curbs and narrow streets nearby.
What about the interior?
The Qashqai’s interior has traditionally combined comfort and robustness in equal measure and, happily, this continues in post-facelift. It makes a Volkswagen Tiguan feel rather plain, and a Ford Kuga like a Christmas cracker toy in comparison.
Alcantara isn’t usually found in a family car, but you can have it here on the mid-range, £35,000 N-Design model – and it breaks up the hard surfaces well. A new material finish around the dashboard and redesigned centre console is somewhat unusual, straddling the texture of carbon fibre and galvanised steel. I much prefer it to the cheap, hard plastics you get in the Dacia Bigster, though.
Otherwise, the cabin is just as roomy as before. It’s a spacious interior with good headroom front and rear, and adequate rear legroom. A six-footer will be OK, but a rear-facing Isofix seat in the back gives your front passenger less legroom than you’d hope for.
Technology is more important than ever in 2025 – and the Qashqai has just enough to keep up with the pack. When the car was facelifted, Nissan moved its infotainment system over to a Google operating system, which I think works very well. The menu design is logical and voice activation allows passengers to control everything from the seat heaters to the ventilation. It’s a massive step on from the old system.
As part of this latest e-Power update, Nissan has added further Google integration. You now get more voice commands through the Google assistant and weather forecasts for whatever destination you punch into the sat-nav. You can also now add apps such YouTube to the screen using the Play Store.
Verdict
There’s no denying that Nissan’s efforts have made the Qashqai e-Power a slightly better car – especially when you consider that you won’t pay any extra money for the privilege of the new powertrain. But the question of whether the changes are worth having is troubling me, as this isn’t exactly a transformative update.
The old Qashqai e-Power wasn’t a noisy or inefficient car, but Nissan is nevertheless trying to solve those problems with this new powertrain. For that reason, if I was shopping for a Qashqai, I don’t think I’d go out of my way to buy this updated one.
I’d probably try and bag one of the last cars off the line before the new e-Power system hits the showrooms. That way, I might be able to get a better price from a desperate dealer trying to clear space on his yard before the newest, shiniest Qashqais are shipped in.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t because Nissan’s new e-Power system is bad. Quite the contrary – my early impressions suggest it’s a refined, efficient bit of kit. But your average driver will struggle to appreciate the minor reduction in cabin noise, subtle CO2 reduction and slight improvements in real-world fuel economy.
My best guess is that Nissan’s buyers simply aren’t interested in electric cars, as evidenced by the fact the Qashqai consistently appears on the UK’s top 10 sellers list while the Ariya never gets close. So, Nissan is trying to wring as much profit as it can from the current Qashqai before it’s forced to go electric.
The Qashqai might not be the most acrobatic family SUV on sale, or the most affordable, or the most cosseting. But it’s familiar – and buyers obviously find a lot of comfort in that. Team that with its decent practicality and strong fuel economy, and I can see it selling well until legislation makes it impossible for Nissan to build them.