Nissan X-Trail e-Power Review & Prices

The Nissan X-Trail e-Power is the brand’s first go at electrifying its largest SUV. By fitting electric motors to drive the wheels and using a petrol engine as a generator, it’s a midpoint on the journey to full electric – a lot like staying overnight at a hotel on a very long drive. And the X-Trail was Highly Commended in the Adventurer's Choice category of the 2024 Carwow Awards.

Aside from these electric motors, there's little to tell this hybrid version apart from the petrol X-Trail, except for the presence of e-Power badges. Like the petrol, e-Power models start on 18-inch alloys, rising all the way to 20s that are standard on the top-end Tekna+. 

The similarities continue inside, with the same layout and quality of finish. The top-spec Tekna+ is particularly well-finished, with the light tan interior adding an extra level of specialness. You get the two 12.3-inch displays alongside each other, with the more expensive versions getting a head-up display. 

In the rear seats you get the same space, with no sacrifice for getting e-Power. But if you want to have seven seats, you need to choose the all-wheel drive version, as the front-wheel drive e-Power is only offered with five seats. 

The space is good in the front two rows, with lots of headroom and legroom for adults – even with the sliding sunroof in place. However, the rearmost row is not the best for longer journeys, even when sliding the middle row forward to improve rear room. There’s also decent storage, with well-sized door bins and seat pockets.

Boot space isn’t limited by the addition of e-Power technology, with 585 litres for the five-seat versions and 485 litres with the seven-seat model. If you need maximum boot space, the Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008 offer more.

Out on the road, having the all-electric drive system adds a level of refinement you might not expect from a big SUV. With the petrol engine only needed to charge the battery pack, you get that silent and responsive electric driving feel, which makes driving around town easy. The X-Trail doesn’t feel too large on narrower city streets, either.

Where the e-Power system is flawed is under harder acceleration. While the power delivery is smooth as normal, the petrol engine is hard-pressed to keep up with providing charge for the battery. That means when you’re going up steep hills or accelerating down a slip road, the engine is very harsh to listen to, and that can spoil the experience somewhat. 

On the motorway, when you’re up to speed, it does quieten down, though, and leaves a quite serene cruising environment. There’s some wind flutter around the wing mirrors and roof rails, but it’s not enough to spoil the cabin. 

The X-Trail isn’t most at home on twistier roads, but even so, it holds its own, especially with the two motor setup. It grips the road well and doesn’t feel too wide, unless you’re on a really small country road. 

While e-Power has some clear refinement issues in some scenarios, the X-Trail’s ability to run on battery alone at low power is a useful asset, especially with the practicality of the SUV body. 

If you like the look of this hybrid SUV, check out the latest Nissan X-Trail e-Power deals to see how much you can save, or browse used X-Trails from our network of trusted dealers. You can also take a look at other used Nissans and sell your car through carwow when the time comes.

The X-Trail feels like a great value purchase in the Nissan range. Even if you don’t need the extra seats, it’s only a few thousand pounds more expensive than the smaller Qashqai in five-seat mode. The X-Trail is more spacious and feels posher inside, too. The gap between e-Power versions of the two is even smaller than between the regular petrol engines.

What makes the X-Trail e-Power trickier to justify is the fact that it costs about £5,000 more than the regular petrol X-Trail. This makes more sense if you need the hybrid’s extra power, but that’s quite a jump in price when official fuel economy figures show it’s less than 10mpg more efficient. And during our testing we actually saw slightly better fuel efficiency from the petrol…

Compared with other seven-seat SUVs, it’s priced around the middle of the pack. The Peugeot 5008 and SEAT Tarraco are a bit less expensive, as is the excellent Skoda Kodiaq. The Kia Sorento, Mercedes GLB and Hyundai Santa Fe are all a bit pricier than the Nissan, though.

Driving on electric power in town is a quiet and refined experience, but the petrol engine is noisy when you need some extra power

In town

The Nissan X-Trail isn’t as big as it looks in pictures, so it’s not too intimidating to drive in tighter city streets. Good visibility helps, with large windows all around and relatively thin pillars that don’t obstruct your view too much. Light steering and standard-fit parking sensors make parking a breeze too, while higher-spec versions also get cameras to help you see around the car.

And if you do happen to miss a pothole or rough edge to the Tarmac ahead, the X-Trail will take it in its stride. Thanks to its raised suspension it soaks up bumps in the road, making it comfortable to drive around town.

The hybrid e-Power model’s secret weapon is its electric running. Although you can’t go far on electric power alone, in relaxed low-speed driving, the petrol engine is mere background noise even when it is required. This makes the X-Trail a refined thing to run around in.

On the motorway

This refinement extends to motorway driving, too. Hybrids aren’t at their best on the motorway because you quickly drain the battery so can’t make the most of the electric motors, but the e-Power’s layout is closer to an electric vehicle. It means that even if you’re holding a consistent speed around 70mph, the petrol engine can recharge the battery at relatively low revs, helping to keep things quiet.

Where this falls down is when you need to call on some extra power, either for accelerating down a slip road or pulling off an overtake. At higher revs, the petrol engine is quite shouty and shatters the illusion of peace and quiet.

These instances make up a small percentage of your driving, though. And the comfortable suspension is also noticeable at motorway speeds, which couples with the spacious interior to make you feel relaxed on long trips.

ProPilot is offered on Tekna models and above. This is an adaptive cruise control system that can also keep you in lane, taking a lot of the effort out of motorway driving. It can also keep you moving in stop-start traffic, which is hugely useful.

On a twisty road

Comfort is the X-Trail’s clear focus, and unsurprisingly that means it’s not the most adept SUV in the corners. There’s a bit of body lean as you turn, and the light steering doesn’t inspire much confidence when cornering at higher speeds. You can add weight to the steering wheel and improve throttle response with the Sport mode, but it doesn’t add much enjoyment.

Nor does the engine sound, which shouts about its presence when you accelerate hard out of a corner. It’s not a terrible sound, but it makes more noise than the speed at which you gain speed suggests it should, which can be irritating.

Nissan never intended for the X-Trail to be anything close to a sports SUV, though, and while you can have some fun if you temper your expectations, it definitely responds better to being driven in a more relaxed and refined manner.

The Nissan X-Trail is spacious inside for front and middle passengers, but the third row is cramped and the boot is smaller than some alternatives

Although it shares many components with the Qashqai, the X-Trail feels considerably more spacious in the front seats. The driving position is great and gives a good view of the road ahead, with plenty of adjustability in the wheel and seat to get comfortable.

The ‘floating’ centre console not only looks cool but it’s practical, too. The upper section has a pair of large cup holders and, on higher-spec models, a wireless phone charger beneath the dashboard. The lower section is a useful place to keep small bags and other items you don’t need on the move and want to keep out of sight.

The door bins are a good size and can carry all but the largest of water bottles, though it’s a shame they are not lined with a soft material to keep items from rattling around.

Space in the back seats

Behind the front chairs, passengers will find a good amount of space. And with no traditional gearbox to worry about, there’s no transmission tunnel. That means more space for your feet, even with three across the back, and you can get your feet under the front seats for extra space. Headroom and legroom is good, even for taller adults, with only those with longer legs touching the back of the front seat.

The optional third row is not quite so comfortable on long journeys, though. Even though you can slide the middle row forwards to allow for more knee and legroom, headroom is the main limiting factor. It’s probably only best for kids back there, and even then only on shorter journeys.

Interior quality drops the further back you go, too. The window ledges are plastic instead of the spongier material up front, while the fold-down central armrest has an open set of cup holders, which feel a little cheap.

Boot space

The Nissan X-Trail’s boot is a good size at 575 litres in the five-seater, although non-e-Power versions get an extra 10 litres. If you go for the seven-seat version and fold the third row flat, all models have a boot space of 485 litres.

Although this is a decent, usable space, it’s well down on the Skoda Kodiaq’s 630 litres and the Peugeot 5008’s ridiculous 952 litres.

Fold the middle row down too, and you have 1,298 litres in the X-Trail (1,424 litres in the five-seat model), which is dwarfed by both the Skoda and Peugeot, which both have just over 2,000 litres.

With the third row folded you get a flat floor, which makes it easier to load long or heavy items, and the boot shape is good so you can maximise the capacity on offer. You can fold the middle row in a 60/40 split to make it possible to load longer items while also having a rear passenger or two.

The X-Trail’s interior design is good with a generally premium look and feel, but scratchy plastics are easy to find

First impressions of the interior design are really good. Nissan has done a great job with making the X-Trail look and feel pretty upmarket without trying too hard and ending up with a fussy mess. It’s all very simple but well-executed, though the piano black plastic can get smudged very easily.

Overall quality is good in the areas you regularly interact with, just don’t go digging too far beyond the main dashboard areas because you will find cheaper plastics that somewhat break that premium illusion.

It can feel a touch dark inside, but the top-spec Tekna+ models get a tan leather upholstery, while this and the trim below also get a panoramic roof. The pair combine to really brighten up the interior.

Atop the dashboard sits an 8.0-inch infotainment display as standard, which feels rather dated. Better is the 12.3-inch widescreen unit found on the N-Connecta models and above. It’s not the fastest nor most intuitive system to use, but the display is sharp and clear. Wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto are included as standard on e-Power models.

There are two e-Power performance levels available on the X-Trail, both using 1.5-litre petrol engines. Where they differ is that the 201hp model has a single electric motor driving the wheels, while the 211hp model has a motor on each axle that provides all-wheel drive.

In both cases, the electric motor(s) power the wheels directly, while the petrol engine charges a small battery that provides the power. Being small, the electric-only range is minimal, with the idea being that the petrol engine keeps the battery topped up as necessary.

It works pretty well and you do get the smooth driving characteristics of a full EV. However, the 1.5-litre petrol engine that’s also available in the X-Trail returns up to 39.8mpg, while the lower-powered e-Power registers up to 48.7mpg and the more powerful version can do up to 44.8mpg.

That’s an okay improvement, but it’s worth noting that the Toyota RAV4, with its traditional self-charging hybrid, registers about 50mpg. Furthermore, we saw just 34mpg in our time with the car, compared with 36mpg in the petrol X-Trail. Awkward.

The other issue for company car drivers is that CO2 emissions aren’t particularly low because there’s no plug-in hybrid with a high electric range. As a result, the benefit-in-kind rate is 37% for petrol models or 31-34% for the e-Power models. This is higher than the self-charging hybrid Toyota RAV4, which is 30-31%.

Hybrid models benefit from cheaper road tax in the first year, but it’s worth noting that versions over £40,000 have to pay a bit extra in years two to six. This affects higher-spec X-Trails, and some lower-spec hybrids.

The Nissan X-Trail hasn’t been safety tested by Euro NCAP, but it shares many parts with the Qashqai, which scored five stars out of five. It scored highly for adult safety, child safety and assistance systems.

As a result, it’s no surprise to learn it’s not lacking in assistance kit. All models get adaptive cruise control, front emergency braking, blind spot warning, driver alertness, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.

If you want the full ProPilot system, which can take over the accelerating, braking and steering on motorways, you will need to go for the Tekna trim or above. On top of this, e-Power models also have ProPilot Park, which can detect parking spaces and park the car automatically.

Nissan has an okay reputation for reliability. It’s far from building the most unreliable cars you can buy, but it also lags behind the likes of Toyota and Honda. Sharing parts with the Qashqai helps the X-Trail, because so many have been sold that parts are fairly inexpensive, while any issues have been resolved.

In terms of warranty, Nissan is again pretty average, offering three years or 60,000 miles. That mileage limit isn’t great, and three years is a basic amount of time, falling behind Hyundai’s five-year warranty and Kia’s seven-year promise.