Women and gents, the Nissan Kicks e-Energy. Forward of the B-SUV’s launch subsequent month (after what has appeared like an eternity) on the Kuala Lumpur Worldwide Motor Present (KLIMS) 2024, we’ve given you a full gallery and specs. Now that we’ve taken the automotive on a visit to Melaka and again courtesy of Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM), it’s time to go deep.
Let’s begin with measurement. The Kicks’ 4,290-mm size and 1,760-mm width place it between the Perodua Ativa and the Proton X50 within the horizontal sense, however its 1,605-mm top makes it as tall because the X50 and barely taller than the Chery Omoda 5 and Honda HR-V. No beating the 1,635-mm tall boy Ativa, although. The Kicks’ 2,615-mm wheelbase nearly equals the HR-V; in different phrases, between the X50 and O5.
Honey, I expanded the Almera? Fairly – sharp edges throughout, V-Movement face and squinting LED headlamps. I notably just like the facet profile, with its ‘floating roof’, upswept C-pillar kink that’s sharper than the Almera’s, and the deep swage traces alongside the doorways. Along with the linked LED taillights, roof rails and 17-inch five-spoke alloys wrapped in 205/55 Yokohama BluEarths, the Kicks is a sight for my sore eyes at the least.
It’s Almera-like inside, too. You’ll recognise the flat-bottomed steering wheel (rake- and reach-adjustable), padded dashboard with contrasting-colour alternatives (brown right here), eight-inch touchscreen, half-analogue-half-digital instrument cluster, round air vents and single-zone auto air-con management panel, however in fact right here you get a stubby e-Energy-specific gear lever, an digital parking brake with auto maintain, Drive Mode button and an EV mode change.
It’s a pleasant place to be – I do just like the brown bits, which you’ll additionally discover on the door playing cards and seats courtesy of the range-topping VLT, though mine could possibly be an unpopular opinion given Malaysians’ penchant for all-black interiors. The tops of the dashboard and door playing cards are laborious plastic, however the brown padded bits go a way in the direction of elevating the ambiance. Auto up/down window just for the motive force, although.
In a time when automotive interiors are trying increasingly like cinemas, the half-analogue-half-digital instrument cluster does sadly look outdated hat. The seven-inch unit’s graphics are nice, legible and pretty modern-looking, however fully at odds with the massive conventional speedo and its journey reset knob poking out of the glass, which reminds you of the Kicks’ age.
Preventing again the years are the very-intuitive touchscreen (with wired Apple CarPlay/Android Auto) and digital rear-view mirror (VLT solely) – you flip the latter on just by flicking the lever beneath, simply as you do to dim a traditional mirror. It is a B-segment-first in Malaysia.
I discover it a boon – the view could be very wide-angle and received’t be blocked by D-pillars, rear passengers’ heads and tall gadgets within the boot. Even in heavy rain, though you’d nonetheless have to function the again wiper now and again, you will note higher than with a traditional mirror on the entire.
The manually-adjustable Zero Gravity entrance seats, whereas just a little slim on the thighs, are very supportive and cozy. Additionally slim is the centre console, being simply vast sufficient to accommodate twin cupholders (with two ‘ground’ settings to suit massive and small cups) lengthwise. It follows that the armrest field can also be slim, and opening it reveals a shallow cubby that would most likely solely take a bi-fold pockets and a few keys at greatest.
Again seat area is suitable – no centre armrest nor rear air-con vents, however you do get two USB-A charging ports. The boot swallows a really respectable 423 litres; when you want extra, the again seats fold 60:40, however the load ground just isn’t flat and there’s fairly an enormous protrusion on the ground the place the seats break up. Underneath the boot ground you’ll discover a tyre restore equipment as a substitute of a spare tyre.
That is the facelifted first-gen Kicks that launched in Thailand over 4 years in the past (you learn that proper and it’s not the new second-gen, no RHD nor e-Energy for that but), though Malaysia now will get the second-gen e-Energy powertrain (up to date for Japan, Thailand and Singapore in 2022), which will increase the battery’s capability from 1.57 to 2.06 kWh and the variety of cells from 80 to 96.
Nissan says the second-gen e-Energy powertrain is extra compact, lighter and gives higher efficiency. Within the Kicks, which is the primary e-Energy mannequin in Malaysia, a 1.2 litre three-cylinder engine acts purely as a generator to cost a 2.06 kWh battery that feeds a front-mounted 129 PS/280 Nm electrical motor.
It’s a sequence hybrid in the identical vein because the Perodua Ativa Hybrid, the Mazda MX-30 R-EV and the BMW i3 REx. For the reason that petrol engine by no means drives the wheels, it’s an EV the place propulsion is anxious. It’s an EV with zero vary anxiousness, however not zero emissions. And no, you may’t plug it in to cost.
Unsurprisingly, the Kicks e-Energy could be very EV-like to drive – immediate torque and silent progress. Round city, you actually wouldn’t realise that the petrol engine has kicked in except you’re keeping track of the instrument cluster – there are subsequent to no vibrations regardless of it being a three-cylinder. You’d actually should perk up your ears to listen to only a muted hum. In fact, the engine wake-up is extra discernible once you’re ready on the lights, however general, refinement ranges are very excessive.
I stated it appears like an EV to drive, didn’t I? However it could actually additionally really feel like an ICE car at occasions – bear with me. You realize once you give a CVT car the beans, you hear the engine first earlier than car pace catches up? Properly, it’s uncannily the other right here. Ground it and the EV-like immediate torque shoves you ahead, however a break up second later you hear the engine, and the revs correspond very carefully to throttle place (like an ICE automotive) because it toils to cost the battery based mostly in your proper foot’s demand.
I have to reiterate right here that at no level is engine operation intrusive or tough within the slightest. That is doubtless the Kicks e-Energy’s high energy – its quietness. Even at pace, I can solely cease in need of saying there’s zero street and wind noise, lest somebody brings out a NASA-grade decibel meter to show me improper.
A 0-100 km/h time of 9.5 seconds is all nicely and good; what’s maybe extra spectacular is its mid-range acceleration of 100-120 km/h in 4 seconds flat. Certainly, once you ask for extra energy at freeway speeds, the Kicks e-Energy merely complies, the speedo needle climbing relentlessly in a fashion you wouldn’t anticipate from a 129 PS/280 Nm automotive.
Let’s speak modes. Moreover Regular, there are Eco and Sport which affect throttle response and improve regen braking (Regular has the least quantity of regen). Funnily sufficient, EV mode, which tells the engine to not get up, can solely be engaged once you’re in Eco or Sport, however as a result of the battery is small, you’ll solely handle at greatest 2.5 km of zero-emissions driving (and that’s when you do a relentless 40 km/h and your battery is full) earlier than the engine has to intervene.
For the reason that system all the time tries to maintain the battery’s state of cost between 20% and 80%, how do you maximise EV-only driving? Properly, there’s a hidden Cost mode, accessible by holding the EV mode change for 2 seconds. The engine will then come alive and keep alive till it has totally charged the battery.
The experience is on the comfy facet of stiff, whereas dealing with, though the Kicks is mild on its ft, is probably par for the course. The e-Pedal Step is in contrast to the Leaf’s in that the automotive will sluggish to a creep as a substitute of coming to a whole cease once you get off the throttle.
Commonplace security tools contains seven airbags, AEB and Clever Driver Alertness – the highest VLT spec provides adaptive cruise management (VL will get regular cruise management), a 360 digicam, blind spot warning and rear cross site visitors alert. Warranties? 5 years/100,000 km for the car and eight years/160,000 km for the battery, ECU, inverter and electrical motor.
Nissan touts an NEDC determine of 21.7 km/l and a max vary of 900 km on a 41-litre tank of petrol. From PJ to Melaka, 16 automobiles coated 231 km solely on trunk roads and have been rebrimmed on the vacation spot. The drive was fairly spirited with a good bit of overtaking, and the median automotive used 13.99 litres of petrol, yielding 16.5 km/l. It was half-B-road, half-highway on the way in which again, and though we didn’t rebrim the automobiles this time, my readout hovered round 15 km/l regardless of a great flip of pace on the freeway.
All in all, it’s not going to be a breeze for ETCM’s first all-new mannequin in 4 years. Even earlier than we single out the hybrid rivals (upcoming Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid RM140k estimated, Honda HR-V e:HEV RM142k, Haval H6 HEV RM140k), the B-SUV market is a really pink ocean, with some C-SUVs consuming into the pie as nicely (Proton X70 RM99k-127k, Chery Tiggo 7 RM124k, Jaecoo J7 2WD RM139k).
And these are all CKD. Our Nissan Kicks e-Energy goes to come back CBU from Thailand. However who is aware of – if ETCM can by some means get the all-important pricing proper, this automotive may simply be the viable quiet, comfy and handsome different the market wants.
Nissan Kicks e-Energy VLT Malaysia drive gallery
Nissan Kicks e-Energy VLT two-tone in Malaysia full gallery
Nissan Kicks e-Energy VLT two-tone in Malaysia showroom
Nissan Kicks e-Energy VL in Malaysia showroom
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