Increased-mpg Nissan Rogue hybrid is coming: What makes e-Energy totally different?

Nissan has been hinting for a very long time that the following technology of its e-Energy hybrid system shall be prepared for America. And after what may need been a totally totally different future with Honda, it seems these Nissan hybrids are lastly firmly U.S.-bound. 

Nissan had already confirmed in October that it plans to launch e-Energy within the U.S. and Canada by the tip of fiscal yr 2026—which means earlier than the tip of March 2027. Then final month, the identical day the Honda plans formally fizzled, Nissan confirmed that the Rogue, which is primarily a North American car, will get Nissan’s third-generation model of e-Energy (together with, globally, its Qashqai crossover and a minivan). And it began laying out extra particulars about how the hybrid system shall be expanded and developed. 

The upcoming third-generation e-Energy system is 20% extra fuel-efficient and prices 20% much less than the second-generation system, whereas offering higher efficiency.

So anticipate Rogue Hybrid full particulars, together with what we might anticipate to be a aggressive value, to emerge throughout 2026—simply as a 2026 Nissan Rogue plug-in hybrid based mostly on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can also be rising. 

Nissan third-generation e-Energy hybrids

The automaker had already put numerous work into e-Energy. Nissan initially launched the system in Japan in 2016 on the Observe small hatchback. Then in its second technology Nissan managed to make the system 10% extra fuel-efficient, whereas engaged on the refinement of the engine. As of final October it had offered greater than 1.5 million automobiles with the system, and it was obtainable in 68 markets.

As the corporate revealed again in 2021, it prioritized the event of a totally new engine for e-Energy in its third technology, focusing on 50% thermal effectivity from a brand new tumble-flow combustion idea. And because it highlighted in 2023, e-Energy will incorporate new mapping and vitality administration tech to search out one of the best zone for the engine when it comes to engine revs, torque, and electrical output. 

Suffice it to say, U.S.-bound e-Energy hybrids have been a very long time coming. And as Infiniti hinted when abandoning e-Energy-based plans in 2021, effectivity and drivability considerations had been on the core of it. 

At a time when Toyota and Honda have reached about 50% hybrid gross sales for rival fashions within the U.S., the structure of e-Energy has been a part of the priority for holding the system again. Sequence hybrids sometimes wrestle to supply effectivity positive aspects on the freeway, at near-steady-state situations like these encountered typically in America. 

Nissan X-Path G e-4orce e-Energy (Japan-spec)

Nissan X-Path G e-4orce e-Energy (Japan-spec)

Nissan X-Path G e-4orce e-Energy (Japan-spec)

What a Nissan Rogue hybrid is perhaps like—within the metropolis

I sampled the present second-generation e-Energy system at its most refined level but, within the Nissan X-Path, in late 2023, when it was mentioned to be within the product pipeline for the U.S., on an unconfirmed timeline. And even then, my takeaway was broadly that the system was each bit what it wanted to be for U.S. city driving—with loads of questions remaining of what it is perhaps like on the freeway. 

The X-Path is closest to the U.S.-spec Rogue in total dimension and objective. It’s additionally an honest comparability to the Honda CR-V Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, and Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, which a possible future Rogue Hybrid would face up towards. 

For Japan, the X-Path e-Energy is badged the X-Path G e-4orce—signalling that it’s a gasoline engine, and that it takes benefit of Nissan’s GT-R-derived all-wheel-drive dynamic management logic that made its American debut on the all-wheel-drive Nissan Ariya EV. 

Nissan X-Path G e-4orce e-Energy (Japan-spec)

Nissan X-Path G e-4orce e-Energy (Japan-spec)

Within the Japanese-market type I drove (not all that a lot totally different than what’s offered in Europe), the X-Path e-Energy has a 1.5-liter direct-injection turbo-3, rated at 142 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque, and solely driving a generator. The X-Path e-Energy delivers precise propulsion by way of two permanent-magnet motors— delivering as much as 201 hp and 243 lb-ft in entrance or as much as 134 hp and 144 lb-ft in again, however amounting to a mixed system output of 211 hp, in response to Nissan. Within the considerably smaller Qashqai (correlating to what was referred to as Rogue Sport), a model of this similar system outputs 188 hp. 

Nissan’s e-Energy hybrid system is solely a series-hybrid structure, which suggests the gasoline engine begins and runs solely to maintain the battery pack charged and energy flowing to the electrical propulsion system—though for max energy, the motors can draw concurrently from each the generator and the battery. The 2.1-kwh lithium-ion battery within the X-Path e-Energy is a step larger than any on this aggressive set. 

Drives just like Honda hybrid system within the metropolis

In lots of respects, its metropolis drivability felt loads like Honda’s 2-motor hybrid system—with a powerful, instantaneous launch really feel together with loads of EV-like torque, with no interruptions to mechanically mix in torque from an engine. However not like the Honda system, it doesn’t embrace the potential to have interaction the gasoline engine on to the drive wheels below sure light-load cruising situations, to spice up mileage. The e-Energy X-Path provides an e-Pedal one-pedal drive mode for ramped-up regenerative braking, however I seen that it merely didn’t present as a lot real-world regen as an Ariya or Leaf (a minimum of not in low-speed stop-and-go).

Nissan X-Path e-Energy – world spec.

It additionally, I ought to observe, has two sturdy motors on the entrance and rear wheels, so if something, versus the Honda hybrids, it ought to really feel noticeably extra athletic in the identical manner as a dual-motor EV. I merely didn’t get the drive route to offer it that type of train. 

Our drive was on a road loop round a enterprise space in Tokyo that’s separated from essentially the most bustling and congested portion of the town—affording just a little flexibility in familiarizing ourselves with the setup. Simply taking a few of the corners of this comparatively low-speed city course shortly, the X-Path e-Energy felt fairly heavy although, and really softly sprung. The curb weight of the X-Path e-Energy is 4,136 kilos, which provides as much as about 200-300 kilos greater than the CR-V Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, or Tucson Hybrid. However the X-Path felt corresponding to the present U.S. Rogue in total cabin refinement highway noise. It has a entrance strut, rear multi-link suspension setup, with four-wheel vented disc brakes, and the model I drove rode on 235/55R19 tires. 

Whereas we didn’t get a lot previous 40 mph, it was sufficient to inform me that the engine began with out a quake and didn’t sound prefer it was straining or revving, and it was barely perceptible throughout light-duty metropolis driving and even as much as suburban speeds. 

Nissan e-Energy hybrid system

Will Rogue e-Energy ship good mpg, freeway driving refinement?

How the collection system behaves at these fast U.S. freeway speeds is an even bigger query. Some reviewers in different markets have famous a biking, or pulsing, difficulty with the second-gen e-Energy setup that may grow to be noticeable in regular freeway driving or lengthy grades—like what California drivers may encounter—so which may be one of many behaviors Nissan is trying to purge within the U.S.-bound third-generation model.

The opposite query that hangs with us, after this information of the Nissan Rogue Hybrid formally confirmed, and Nissan’s continued wager on the series-hybrid structure, is whether or not the system can ship spectacular fuel mileage for People. In Japan’s WLTC cycle, as an illustration, the X-Path e-Energy has a mixed ranking of 43.3 mpg, and claims 37.9, 48.1, and 43.0 mpg in metropolis, suburbs, and freeway drive cycles, in response to Nissan. The RAV4 Hybrid in Japan, as an illustration, achieves 48.5 mpg in that mixed check cycle, versus 40 mpg mixed by the EPA for the 2025 Toyota RAV4. Apply that very same issue to the X-Path e-Energy and you find yourself at about 36 mpg. 

Nissan e-Energy hybrid badge

The non-hybrid 2025 Nissan Rogue AWD already does an EPA-rated 28/35 mpg metropolis/freeway, with 31 mpg mixed. If Nissan can use all these third-gen enhancements to handle 40 mpg or extra from a Rogue Hybrid, whereas bringing that extra EV-like driving really feel it’s already delivered with the Ariya e-4orce and that I felt beneath all of it within the X-Path e-Energy e-4orce, it can certainly be a powerful rival to RAV4 Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, the Subaru Forester Hybrid, and others on this important coronary heart of the market.