Nissan is getting ready to roll out an all-new version of its best-selling product line. But it will be taking a big risk with the 2027 Nissan Rogue. It’s not just the fact that the compact SUV will be offered solely as a hybrid for at least the first year, but the fact that this will be Nissan’s all-new e-Power technology which takes a radically different approach from the hybrids currently on the road. Headlight.News has more.
Nissan’s e-Power system finally comes to the U.S. in the 2027 Rogue.
Automakers often are loathe to take risks when it comes to relaunching their top-selling product lines. But, in today’s crowded market, taking no risk can be the biggest risk of all.
So Nissan seems to be betting as it prepares to roll out the next-generation Rogue. Set to appear in the coming months as a 2027 model, the SUV will be launched in hybrid-only form, at least for the first year, with a gas-powered package to follow later.
Not an everyday hybrid, however. The 2027 Nissan Rogue will be the first U.S. product line to use the automaker’s distinctive e-Power system.
Making up for lost time
Headlight.News got to drive Nissan Qashqai e-Power package last December. It’s a single-motor system. The Rogue’s version will have two electric motors.
“We’re late to the hybrid party, but we’re bringing a best-in-class product,” Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Americas, told Automotive News.
Getting a competitive hybrid powertrain into the Rogue line will be critical considering the ongoing sales decline for Nissan’s best-selling product. Gas-electric technology has been rapidly gaining ground in the U.S., last year approaching 20% of the American market, according to Cox Automotive. That number is misleading because only a fraction of today’s vehicle lines are available with hybrid options. But the list includes some of Rogue’s key competitors, including the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4.
That helps explain why Rogue sales last year fell to a 12-year low of 217,896, down from a 2018 high of 412,110, the publication noted. Nissan officials previously told Headlight.News they hope to approach the 300,000 mark with the next-gen Rogue.
What’s e-Power
A Nissan e-Power engine. The U.S. version will feature two electric motors, with the internal combustion engine serving only as a generator.
The Nissan e-Power system uses a significantly different technology from what you’ll find under the hood of today’s other hybrids. It does pair an internal combustion engine with battery-driven electric motors, but that’s where comparisons end.
With a “conventional” hybrid, like the Toyota RAV4, the wheels can be driven by the gas engine, the electric motors or both depending upon driving conditions and motorist behavior. The e-Power system, however, only delivers torque to the wheels through one or more electric motors. The onboard gas engine serves solely as a generator, providing a flow of current to those motors. The Nissan system is similar to the extended-range electric vehicle technology manufacturers including Hyundai, Stellantis and Ford are developing — but for having a much smaller battery offering virtually no range in all-electric mode.
Nissan forecasts a fuel economy rating of 40 mpg combined. If verified by the EPA, that would best the 37 mpg of the Honda CR-V hybrid. Depending upon which RAV4 model, meanwhile, the Toyota crossover gets between 37 and 39 mph combined.
More Nissan News
- Nissan e-Power Delivers EV Benefits Without the Headaches
- Check out the new Nissan Rogue Plug-In Hybrid
- Turning Over a New (Nissan) Leaf; Our First Drive Review
Specs to follow
The 2026 Nissan Rogue Plug-in Hybrid.
Nissan first offered e-Power on the Note model in Japan in 2016. It’s been talking about plans to bring it to the U.S. every since. But it’s delayed the launch repeatedly, in part due to the need to make sure it delivered the sort of fuel economy and driving characteristics American motorists expect. It thinks it’s gotten there with the third-generation e-Power system that Rogue will use.
Headlight.News got a chance to experience e-Power late last year with a version of the European Qashqai crossover. As we wrote in December, “It’s not a bad alternative as that model is based off the underlying Rogue platform and was even sold in the U.S. for a while as the Rogue Sport. The big difference? A single electric motor, where the Nissan Rogue e-Power package will offer two, one on each axle.”
Nissan has yet to reveal specs for the U.S. Rogue using e-Power. The Qashqai version made 188 horsepower from its single electric motor, enough to launch from 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) in about 7.9 seconds. The question is whether the twin-motor Rogue will be able to match the 248 hp and 332 lb-ft made by the current Rogue Plug-in Hybrid.
Timing
The current Nissan Rogue will continue to be produced for at least a year to give buyers the option of a conventional ICE package.
Nissan will begin building the new e-Power Rogue in Japan over the summer. It won’t follow with a gas model until spring 2027, though that version will be assembled at the automaker’s plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. Production of the e-Power package will expand to Smyrna “as soon as possible” after that, said Meunier.
The automaker is still trying to decide whether to add production of the e-Power system to its Decherd, Tennessee engine plant. At the moment, the technology comes out of Japan. Nissan also is continuing to look at other possible application for e-Power.
For those who might not want an electrified drivetrain, Nissan plans to continue building the current version of Rogue for at least another year.
Meunier told Automotive News he sees the possibility e-Power versions will account for more than half of U.S. Rogue sales within two years. DPonz Pandikuthira, the chief product and planning officer for Nissan Americas, he was even more upbeat during a conversation last December, telling Headlight.News, “We think this will eventually evolve to be 100% of (the Rogues) we sell” in the U.S.
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