I’ve been threatening it for a while now, but I’m finally getting around to talking about how the Nissan X-Trail drives.
You won’t be surprised that this isn’t going to be some great revelation about how it actually handles on rails...because it doesn’t. From a handling perspective, it’s pretty bland and very light to drive around in urban and rural environments—almost too light sometimes. The four-wheel-drive version has much more feedback through the wheel. It’s more the engine/battery technology that’s important here.A quick recap: In Nissan’s ‘e-Power’ setup, the 1.
But here’s the thing: It really works in a bizarre kind of way, and I think I might prefer it to a traditional engine in these types of family cars. I might not be the world’s biggest fan of electric cars, but for me, the one thing EVs do well is make driving easy. And the one thing gas- or diesel-fed cars do well is range. So, it’s like taking all the best bits of either one and putting them together. Everyday family cars need to be effortless—family life is hard enough as it is.
There’s a battery- and gasoline-level dial that only adds to the confusion because the former is pointless. If you run out of fuel, you’re still done for, so you switch it into EV-only mode, but this rarely lasts long before the engine kicks in, and sometimes it won’t let you go into EV mode at all. So why have a battery level? Concentrating on the fuel level is still the most important part.
Is this the future? It’s certainly a technology that’s gaining traction, and while the jury might be out on its environmental impact, combining two technologies works for me. I just wish it sounded better on the inside.