A JUKE WITH MORE SPARK (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The Nissan Juke gets more sophisticated in this Hybrid form. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 37

Nissan's little Juke crossover takes its first step into the electrified era with this Hybrid variant. Compared to the ordinary version, you get both more power and greater efficiency - though with a considerably higher price tag.

Backgroundword count: 161

Nissan may have been one of the pioneers in EV motoring but the brand has been slow to react to customer demand for Hybrids. It still can't sell you one you can plug in, but other petrol/electric bases now seem well covered. Mild hybrid tech was launched with the current Qashqai, which along with the larger X-Trail SUV also offers the company's clever e-Power drivetrain in which all the 1.5-litre petrol engine does is to supply energy for the electrical system. For an electrification option with the brand's smaller Juke crossover, we'd hoped to see that innovative powerplant reappear again. Instead, Nissan has opted for something a tad more conventional, updating the four cylinder 1.6-litre full-Hybrid petrol engine already familiar from several Renault models. It's a pricier alternative to the continuing old-tech three cylinder 1.0-litre DIG-T petrol engine most choose in the Juke, but there's the appealing combination of more power and better efficiency. Should Juke folk be tempted? Let's see.

Driving Experienceword count: 315

The numbers here certainly deserve a second glance: 20% better fuel economy, 25% more power and all of it controlled by three Hybrid drive modes and six gears, four for the engine and two for the EV system. Nissan says that the whole confection is its own but actually, the Juke Hybrid drivetrain is basically the same one Renault uses in the Clio, the Captur and the Arkana. Albeit with changes made to the 1.6-litre petrol engine (which here develops 93bhp) and to the set-up's electric motor (here putting out 48bhp and working with a 20bhp starter generator). Total system output is 141bhp. As with Renault, that e-motor is mounted within a four-speed 'multi-modal' auto gearbox which manages both power sources. What we haven't seen before on any Renault is this Nissan's 'e-Pedal' function, which increases regenerative braking - to the point where the car can slow right down to 5mph when you come off the throttle. It also improves water cooling for the compact 1.2kWh battery, which always powers the car from start-off and can take you up to 34mph without troubling fossil fuel. Once you crest the EV speed barrier, the powertrain switches into 'series hybrid' mode, where the engine charges the battery - great for urban driving. And at high speeds and under heavy acceleration, the whole set-up reverts to 'parallel mode' in which both the e-motor and the engine drive the wheels. Nissan has had to tweak the springs and dampers to accommodate the Hybrid system's extra 100kgs of weight and has done so with settings it hopes will be firm enough to assure this Juke's urban status as 'the roundabout superstar' - their words, not ours. In other words, don't expect a cosseting ride over the speed humps. Get out on the open road and the 62mph sprint is dispatched in 10.1s, 1.7s quicker than the conventional 1.0-litre DIG-T model.

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