The car was spied testing in Tamil Nadu, where Nissan India has its R&D facility and manufacturing base shared with Renault.
The Nissan Note, currently in its second generation, was given a facelift in October last year. It is a mix of a compact hatchback and an MPV. It's most certainly not an India-bound model. Stretching over 4 metres with a length of 4,100 mm and offering only 5 seats, the Note was considered and ruled out for India. It rides on the V-platform, which has found little success in our market.
The Nissan Note test mule was sourced from Japan, where the e-Power variant has been accepted widely. Last month, a report said that Nissan is considering bringing the Nissan Note e-Power's EV powertrain for India. The test mule does not have any e-Power badges on the body, but maybe they were stripped to avoid fueling speculations.
The Nissan Note e-Power powertrain consists of the HR12DE 1.2-litre petrol engine, power generator, inverter and the EM57 electric motor. The Nissan Note e-Power's petrol engine develops 79 PS and 103 Nm of torque, while the electric motor generates 109 PS and 254 Nm of torque. There's no need for external charging, with the petrol engine charging the small 1.5 kWh battery.
The Note e-Power has an impressive fuel economy rating of 37.2 km/l in the Japanese test cycle. Nissan India may use the e-Power technology for the next-gen Nissan Micra or some other locally relevant model, but with GST unfavourable to hybrid cars, pricing it will be a challenge.
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