Nissan launches its most expensive SUV here yet
At S$249,800, the new X-Trail has new pricing terrain to conquer
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THE new Nissan X-Trail is X-pensive.
The Japanese carmaker’s importer Tan Chong International on May 11 priced its flagship sport utility vehicle (SUV) for our market at S$254,800 with certificate of entitlement (COE), but this week’s fall in COE premiums brings the car’s price down to S$249,800.
High COE premiums this year have lifted car prices in general, to the point where the quarter-million-dollar mark is no longer unheard of for non-luxury Japanese SUVs, such as Mazda’s CX-8.
The new X-Trail slips into the same pricing territory, but has plenty to offer. It comes with three rows of seats for seven people and is packed with new features, such as wireless Apple CarPlay and the ability to alert the driver to moving objects around the car, to make parking safer.
But its calling card is Nissan’s e-Power technology, which is a series hybrid electric system. It uses a petrol engine to charge a battery, which then powers the X-Trail’s two electric motors.
The set-up is designed to deliver the instant response and smooth acceleration of an electric vehicle (EV), while also providing the range and convenience of a petrol car, but with the efficiency of a hybrid one.
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The X-Trail e-Power’s fuel consumption is given as 6.7 litres per 100 kilometres, meaning it should be able to stretch a full tank of petrol to 820 km.
Nissan already uses e-Power technology in other models, but the X-Trail is unusually sophisticated. The engine used to generate electricity for the battery is a 1.5-litre turbo with a variable compression ratio. The first-of-its-kind technology makes the engine more efficient when it is running slowly, and more powerful at higher revs.
The X-Trail’s twin-motor layout, the first such e-Power arrangement, gives it the extra traction of all-wheel drive and a combined 204 horsepower.
Nissan says the system is tuned to work well in off-road conditions. Its main task for now is to power the X-Trail successfully through new pricing territory.
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