Nissan X-Trail engines & performance

It doesn’t completely carry off the EV sensation. Ask for more than, say, 75% power or repeatedly demand strong acceleration and the engine will need to start working harder to generate enough energy to power the motors and keep the battery topped up. At this point, it will maintain a high RPM and you will be able to hear it in the cabin. It’s not an unpleasant noise, and there is enough power in reserve that most of the time you can do without that last 25%. If you floor the throttle in one go, it will take a second before the drivetrain delivers full power, but equally, 80% is plenty for any situation.

Another upshot of the X-Trail’s mechanical layout is that it has regenerative braking just like an EV. As standard, there is very little regen effect when you lift off the throttle. Engaging ‘B’ mode on the drive selector increases it noticeably and pressing the e-pedal button makes it even stronger. It’s very intuitive but you’ll still need the brake pedal to come to a complete halt. Thankfully, that is very progressive as well, making smooth stops a doddle.

For those on a tighter budget, we also tested the slightly cheaper mild-hybrid X-Trail. It employs the same engine as the e-Power model but uses it to directly drive the front axle via a CVT, rather than as a battery generator.

In practice, the two-tonne mild-hybrid X-Trail drives well, offering decent engine responsiveness, if not the same immediate torque as its e-Power sibling. The CVT is also fairly smooth, if slightly laggy at points, especially when significantly more power is called for, such as when overtaking or merging. Its accelerator pedal has more resistance and its brakes are a tad less snappy at lower speeds.