What do you think of Nissan's hybrid design?

I remember hearing a while back that Nissan was developing their own hybrid system that would also be able to scale to a PHEV system. I noticed today that they had the pathfinder hybrid on their website. So I looked at it to see what they had come up with. Eventually i had to surf over to Wikipedia to find the actual specs. I was really disappointed in their system. It uses a 15Kw electric motor. It really isn't all that much better than the crummy IMA that Honda was using for years with the exception of the extra clutches so that it can run on EV power alone.. but with 15Kw, I doubt that can handle more than just a few miles per hour. And I see no way this would be of any use in a PHEV system.

I was really hoping Nissan was going to come out with some really good hybrids so that they could also make some decent plug-in hybrids. Once you have a decent hybrid system like Ford uses, it isn't too hard to upgrade the battery pack and make it a PHEV.

Nissan's hybrids
12v S-hybrid (very micro hybrid - Nissan Serena)
144 volt 15kW (pathfinder/ Q60 and presumable future maxima, murano)
346 volt 50kW (Q70 hybrid) 96 cell in series, so electrically very similar to LEAF
+ exotica concepts

so only Infiniti class has OEM plugin potential, but perhaps some garage kits for pathfinders might come into existence.


Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV seems to be the plugin success that Nissan is missing. There are no HEV version of Outlander, nor would it sensible to make a HEV using the Outlanders PHEV architecture.

more to the profit point, if Nissan makes a 150mile LEAF/Infiniti and only Tesla goes beyond that, why should they join a crowded field of HEVs with plugs? The profits and the distinctives will flow to Tesla and Nissan, the variety will flow to PHEVs.

Which is basically what Toyota did with the PiP... Their mistake was using too small a battery.

adric22 said:

Once you have a decent hybrid system like Ford uses, it isn't too hard to upgrade the battery pack and make it a PHEV.

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Which is basically what Toyota did with the PiP... Their mistake was using too small a battery.

Click to expand...

Toyota didn't want to compete with the Volt, so I doubt that from their perspective at least it was a "mistake." They set out to build the highest MPG hybrid they could, using a battery size that I'll bet they pre-specified, and they succeeded. Driving the PIP as an EV for anything but short trips is an exercise in frustration, but if you let it do what it does best, it's amazing. A mid-size sedan that will get 80+ MPG for almost a hundred miles, and then continue to get 50+ MPG afterwards.

IIRC, Nissan's first in-house developed hybrid system debuted on the Fuga Hybrid (aka Infiniti M hybrid here). See http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/2010/_STORY/101026-01-e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I have pictures of the hardware on display at Tokyo Motor Show 2009.