2023 Nissan X-Trail e-Power Ti-L review

As to how this drives, and in fact its overall demeanour, think EV refinement. Day to day, it is quiet, relaxed, effortless, starting off in EV mode and the engine chiming in quietly to boost the battery when required. With good under bonnet and engine soundproofing, you’re seldom aware of the 1.5 triple’s thrum on the go. At slower speeds sure, but at modest speeds it’s all but silent.

Along with the aural refinement there are the physical updates that complement it. Beginning with the exterior; this seems like a bigger vehicle than its predecessor largely because of gains in width and height of 20 and 15mm, respectively. Moreover, it rides on 20-inch alloys so just seems larger. It’s actually shorter than before by 10mm (4680mm) and has the same 2705mm wheelbase. 

However, the chassis itself is new, and is shared with Outlander and Qashqai. Both of the e-Power X-Trails are five seaters, generous five seaters at that, whereas ICE-powered models can be had with seven seats if desired. Entry into the rear is easy with doors that open almost to right angles, and with a virtually flat floor and extra width there’s room for three adults to sit comfortably. Leg room is variable, for the rear seats can slide forward or aft, on 200mm runners. Set right back there’s vast amounts of legroom and, despite the standard fit panoramic sunroof and sunblind, generous headroom as well. 

Step round the back, activate the powered fifth door and there’s 575L of luggage space available, down just 10L on the ICE-powered X-Trails because of the 1.8kWh battery pack that sits under the rear seats. The boot floor on its top tier facilitates a flat load space after split folding, or extra room in the rear for taller items with the floor set lower. Said floor comprises two halves, and the rear unit can be sited vertically to hold goods in place in the front half of the luggage compartment. There’s no spare wheel beneath, however. For size, we fitted our bag of golf clubs sideways in the back with the trundler in behind, no problem. Like we said, this is sizable but not too much so. It doesn’t feel overly heavy either, despite being the better part of 1900kg, around 250kg more than the rest of the X-Trail range. That’s on account of it having a motor at each axle (150kW/330Nm up front and 100kW/195Nm at the rear). There’s also the battery pack and inverter, amongst other things.

As for performance, it’s said to be around a second quicker to 100km/h than the ICE powered variants, and indeed it met its claim of 7.1sec with a best of 6.94sec. It doesn’t take off with a hiss and a whine like some EVs do but builds up a head of steam progressively. An 80-120km/h overtake requires 135m of roadway (4.75sec). We found that you never really need to be in anything other than the Auto drive mode. It’s just so easy going in this mode too, urban or rural, Sport not adding much, Eco removing too much. The handling is similar; well controlled with firm damping and multilink rear, along with a smooth ride, apart from over uneven surfaces at slower speeds. Steering is also well judged.

This is a serious step up in quality and refinement from the outgoing X-Trail. There’s chrome and gloss black finishings on the exterior, leather-like materials on the dash, quilted leather upholstery, a huge legible touchscreen and instruments, and an equipment and safety list that’s almost daunting. Despite that, this is almost simplicity itself to operate day to day. There are separate HVAC buttons so the trizone system is easy to run. Seats are fully powered and ease back at shut down to make exit easier. Turning off lane keeping is a one-step affair so you’re not distracted by touchscreen controls too much. And there’s a whopper of a head-up display that shows handy info like traffic signs, nav directions, speed etc.

There’s little in the way of negatives here; some might find it a bit big for their needs so they may want to check out the e-Power Nissan Qashqai instead. Others might be wanting more in the way of economy, which PHEVs can offer, some for less outlay than this. You can buy the Ti-L with the 2.5 motor (Ti-L $59,990) while other X-Trail variants can be had with seven seats if that’s your thing. Either way, Nissan seems to have most of your family needs covered rather handily with the latest X-Trail.