The new Nissan Kicks to be launched in Thailand today comes with Nissan’s innovative technology – the e-POWER.
The new Nissan Kicks would be an entirely electric motor driven car, without an external charging socket!! Confused?? Yes, the car is 100% electric, but the batteries are charged by a gasoline engine. Just like your normal gasoline vehicle, all you would need to do is fill the gasoline tank when it is nearing empty. The engine acts as a generator, and is directly coupled to the battery. As the battery runs low, the engine would turn on automatically regenerating the battery.
The e-Power technology though isn’t completely new. Nissan had earlier demonstrated the technology in Japan and has also implemented the same in its Japanese market. It has already sold around 700,000 cars with this technology in Hong kong and Japan. Thailand is the first country outside Japan to manufacture e-Power drivetrain and make it available for customers. It differs starkly from the conventional hybrid systems where the engine powers the wheels when the battery is low, whereas in e-Power, the engine only regenerates the battery and does not power the wheels anytime. So, the vehicle is 100% electrically driven. The new Kicks comes with a 1.2 litre 3 cylinder gasoline engine. The electric motor delivers a total power output of 129PS against 254Nm.
In countries like India where there isn’t a well-established charging network, this technology can shred off charging woes. Given the way the earlier Kicks flopped in India, we are not very sure whether the e-Power Kicks will make its way here, but if launched, this definitely can be a game-changer.
(Article is written by Karthick. He is an auto enthusiast, and an engineer by profession, currently employed in an auto MNC at Chennai; has a craving on new tech and a particular interest on the Indian automotive market.)