Nissan first introduced the e-Power in the facelifted Note E12 back in 2016 and because of the clever setup that makes it behave like an electric car while having its tiny petrol engine charges the batteries, using a tiny amount of fuel, it became a success story, and now, Nissan's road to electrification begins with the arrival of the third-generation Nissan Note, which now comes with the evolved version of its signature e-Power powertrain.
The all-new, third-generation Nissan Note, priced at 2,029,500 Japanese Yen plus additional costs, is the new normal car that blends its sharp design, user-friendly interior, tech, and its award-winning Nissan e-Power powertrain that won the hearts of many customers. It heralds the beginning of the new era for Nissan because it now dons the new Nissan logo first seen on the Ariya electric crossover last summer.
Observing first on the exterior design, the all-new Note borrows the same styling cues from the Ariya electric crossover, the one that started the new age of Nissan, and from every angle, it's hard to tell from the real thing, well the sizing is. Anyway, while it's hard to distinguish between the two vehicles, this new striking design is rather unheard of for an economy car like this but believe them, it's the sharpest economy car to look at and it really puts the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit to shame in terms of design at least.
On the inside, the all-new Note's minimalist interior is still as user-friendly as all cars should because the engineers wanted to make the new interior a bit more user-friendly on the first try. On the dashboard, you get the available NissanConnect navigation system with smartphone connectivity, the digital instrumental panel where it displays your car's status, fully functional climate control, an electronic parking brake, USB ports, and a steering wheel with loads of buttons for your everyday use, including the ProPilot button.
They all work so you don't need to worry about it. As for the comfort zone, thanks to its improved dimensions, it's surprisingly roomier than the previous model and it's got decent boot space for your everyday needs, although the first-ever four-wheel-drive variant will get more boot space in exchange for rear legroom, whatever the reason.
The e-Power hybrid powertrain has been the hallmark of Nissan since it was first introduced in the previous model. It's about an electric motor that does the talking while letting its 1.2L petrol engine charges the batteries, using tiny amounts of fuel. For the new Note, the e-Power has been evolved into its second generation and it's now more efficient than ever, allowing it to operate at a lower RPM and engaged less often during a normal drive, delivering a combined fuel economy of 29.5km/L per WLTC standards, which is 0.1kmpl more than the Honda Fit.
The first-ever four-wheel-drive variant adds another electric motor to it and this spells more power output compared to the normal front-wheel-drive variant.
Driving-wise, the new Note still behaves like a normal car should, although it feels a bit old-fashioned compared to the competition bearing suspension setups more sophisticated than this. Underneath, the new Note comes with Rack & Pinion steering, front independent suspension with struts, rear torsion beam, front ventilated disc brakes, and rear leading trailing type brakes. While this setup is somewhat old-school, it feels like it's working and it's easy to service.
In the issue of safety, the all-new Note comes with ProPilot driver-assist tech with Navi-link which allows this car to take advantage of the car's sat-nav to check for corners, speed limits, and more while taking advantage of its wide variety of semi-autonomous driving tech, which sounds a bit worrying for speedo boys behind the wheel.
The new Note continues Nissan's success story of its e-Power system in its new and functional form and in the midst of the new normal, this new economy car is ready to show the world how it's made.
Photo: Nissan
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