2027 Nissan Rogue Hybrid: Drives Like an Electric Vehicle, But Without a Plug

Although this is the first time Nissan has offered the e-Power hybrid system in the United States, it has been on sale in Japan for a decade now, with more than 1.4 million cars on the roads in that time. These versions weren’t considered quite sufficient for our roads, so Nissan tweaked the system so that the Rogue Hybrid was able to cope with heavier acceleration and larger vehicles.

Pleasant to drive

Behind the wheel, you could very easily forget that this wasn’t just a new electric vehicle – a replacement for the gone-too-soon Ariya, perhaps. Throttle engagement is immediate, like any good electric car, and there’s enough torque to get you going without issue, although a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 6.4 seconds isn’t particularly quick by 2026 standards. Nissan has a lot of expertise in calibrating one-pedal driving setups, and when you access the Rogue Hybrid by pressing a button on the center console, you’ll find that this is no different here.

Nissan was so eager to demonstrate how smoothly the powertrain decelerates during regenerative braking that it put us through a mini school-run obstacle course, complete with a water-filled fishbowl mounted on the cup holder. Not a drop was shed, compared to the same test carried out with what could be the Rogue Hybrid’s biggest rival, Toyota’s RAV4 Hybrid. (The RAV4, without one-pedal driving, requires you to use the brake pedal to slow and stop.)

Acceleration is good at highway speeds, and cruising is quiet: on a rainy, windy day, it was the gusts we heard, rather than the wind noise generated by the car. Speaking of generators, you can’t really hear the engine running either. It never revs at particularly high rpm and shuts down as much as possible. With music playing over the infotainment system, occupants might not even notice it.

The ride soaked up bumps well, but it didn’t absorb abrupt transient shocks as well as longer duration ones. A combination of low rolling resistance tires and California roads experiencing their first rain in a while conspired to create a lot of understeer as I entered a roundabout with perhaps a little more vigor than normal. That said, I rather liked the steering feel of the Rogue Hybrid, and with the smooth power of the two electric motors and the easy one-pedal drive mode, my time behind the wheel was most enjoyable.