Nissan Note Tops New Car Sales in Japan
The compact Note uses a gas engine to power an electric motor and apparently, the Japanese market loves it.
Car sales numbers for January are beginning to fill the news wires, and today, Nissan revealed its sales figures for Japan. What’s surprising about the numbers today is that the Nissan Note took the number one spot in Japan’s new car sales rankings.
One variant of the small city car is powered by Nissan’s e-Power electrified powertrain. The e-Power version of the compact Nissan Note was introduced in November 2016 and sold more than 100,000 units in its first 11 months. It differs a bit from your typical electric vehicle, as a gas engine runs a generator which powers the electric motor.
Nissan brags that the gas engine is incredibly fuel efficient. It only turns on when the car’s battery has been depleted and needs some juice. The company claims that the engine is so quiet when it activates that passengers inside the car don’t even know when it comes on. If you need a little extra push to get uphill or drop the hammer to get up a highway ramp, then the gasoline engine kicks on to provide extra electric power to add torque.
In addition to the Note taking the top spot this month, two other Nissans were in the top 10 including the Serena and the Dayz. The company said that overall domestic sales for Nissan were recovering nicely.
Speaking on the news Danielle Schillaci, Executive Vice President for Nissan, said, “These very strong sales results prove that our customers in Japan know great products when they see them, whether it is e-Power technology in the Nissan Note or ProPilot technology in the Nissan Serena. Here in Japan, Nissan will continue delivering high quality products that make our customers’ lives better and move people to a better world. That is what Nissan Intelligent Mobility is all about.”
I suppose that having an electric vehicle powered by a gas engine would take away the fear of running out of juice on the road but for me it kind of defeats the purpose of an electric car. I’m probably the wrong guy to ask as you’ll have to tear the keys to my V8 out of my cold, dead hands.
