Nissan is Done Investing in New Gas Engines

Nissan is bucking the trend of automakers hanging onto combustion engines for as long as possible. Speaking with the Australian magazine Drive, a company executive said its future lies in electrification and noted that it would not invest in new internal combustion powertrain technologies.

The announcement comes after Nissan’s competitors rolled out plans to collaborate on new gas engines. Mazda, Subaru, and Toyota are teaming up on the project, which will move in the exact opposite direction of Nissan’s plans.

Nissan’s move will involve its e-Power tech, which uses a small combustion engine as a generator to power electric motors. The automaker said it wanted to increase the thermal efficiency of its gas engines to 50 percent, an impressive benchmark and one it has been working toward for years.

Nissan still sees a market for internal combustion vehicles, especially in markets where emissions regulations are less intense, such as Africa. Either way, it’s an interesting development from an automaker that has been considered an “also-ran” in a market dominated by Toyota, Honda, and others. That said, it’s important to note that the transition won’t happen overnight, and the brand will continue offering as engines for some time.

It will also be interesting to see how the automaker navigates the transition and at what speed. Several much larger companies have backed off plans for total electrification in favor of more hybrids due to slowing demand growth for EVs, but it’s unclear if Nissan views the e-Power as a long- or short-term solution.

[Images: Nissan]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.