The latest car news and reviews, straight to the point Our complimentary daily newsletter delivers the most significant stories directly to your inbox every weekday. Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short. Concise, engaging, and easy to digest, TDS compiles the latest global automotive news in one location. Each story is summarized in one sentence with a link for those interested in further details. I spent the majority of the day and night traveling to Japan, and calling it a long day would be an understatement. So let’s dive right in. 🚨 Ram has recalled 72,509 trucks, including the 1500 models and heavy-duty 2500 and 3500 lines, as well as the 4500 chassis cab trucks, because the digital gauge clusters may go blank due to a software issue. 😈 Rivian has introduced a new purple hue named Borealis for the Tri- and Quad-Motor R1S and R1T, offered as a limited-time option for $3,000. 🔋 Kia has teased a new vehicle that appears to be an electric model and possibly a successor to the Stinger, though no specifics have been provided. 🪜 Scout is set to obtain its ladder frame for its forthcoming SUV and truck from a new collaboration between suppliers Sodecia and Aapico, which will construct a 400,000-square-foot facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at a cost of $120 million and is expected to create 392 new jobs. 🇯🇵 A manual Acura NSX restomod, produced through a collaboration between Pininfarina and JAS Motorsport, was unveiled, receiving mixed reviews on its design. 🐎 The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E made a quiet debut, incorporating rear door grab handles—something my children have complained about—without much fanfare or notice. Do you have suggestions regarding the formatting of TDS? Feel free to drop us a message: [email protected]

      Adam Ismail

      The latest automotive news and reviews, straight to the point

      Our complimentary daily newsletter delivers the essential stories directly to you, every weekday.

      Currently, Nissan has limited hybrid offerings, but that's set to change in the coming year. First up is the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid. Indeed, it’s essentially a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and Nissan isn’t disguising that fact. However, what’s particularly fascinating is what the company plans to do beyond this badge-swapped Outlander, especially with the upcoming next-generation Rogue featuring Nissan’s own E-Power hybrid system slated for the 2027 model year.

      Most traditional hybrids are parallel hybrids, meaning their gasoline engines and electric motors can operate either together or independently. Generally, the electric motor is utilized for low-speed and stop-and-go city driving, while the internal combustion engine (ICE) kicks in for highway travel. The E-Power system, however, is different: it adopts a series hybrid configuration, or what some refer to as an extended-range EV setup, and it cannot be plugged in.

      This technology will serve as the foundation for the Rogue E-Power when it launches, likely late next year. It will utilize a gasoline engine solely tasked with generating energy to either power the wheels through an inverter or charge a battery. Although this approach isn’t entirely new – similar to the old BMW i3 REx – it is indeed unique for a high-volume vehicle like the Rogue.

      “The drawback of a series hybrid is when you’re cruising on the highway at 75 mph, as that’s when an electric motor isn’t most efficient, but an internal combustion engine is,” explained Nissan Americas SVP and Chief Product and Planning Officer Ponz Pandikuthira during a media briefing. “So, they incorporate a clutch system that enables the internal combustion engine's upper shaft to drive the final axle.”

      The E-Power system has been used in models in Asia and Europe, like the Qashqai, for several years now.

      What Pandikuthira outlined is reminiscent of Honda’s two-motor hybrid system found in the Civic and CR-V. The engine connects to the wheels only when you are cruising at speed, and it does so in a fixed gear.

      “We haven’t pursued that,” Pandikuthira stated. “There are significant reasons for this. Firstly, when you connect an engine to the drivetrain, it introduces numerous vibrations that arise from adding a transmission or a lockup clutch, complicating costs in the system.

      “But with proper calibration of how that internal combustion engine generates electricity, the production rate, and the battery’s depletion rate, we can avoid requiring that lockup. This was ultimately the development that postponed our ability to bring the second-generation E-Power system available in Europe to the U.S., leading us to wait for the third generation.”

      This is a significant gamble. Between 2017 and 2020, Nissan briefly marketed a Rogue Hybrid in North America. By waiting so long to reintegrate an electrified compact SUV into the market, it has missed out on sales that competitors have capitalized on. According to Pandikuthira, this is precisely why the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid is being introduced. “Many people search online for a Rogue. They appreciate the design, but if there’s no hybrid option available, they don’t even consider it.”

      Nissan refers to the plug-in as a “bridge product” to its homegrown hybrids. When the next-generation Rogue makes its debut, it will initially only be available in the E-Power variant—the gasoline version will follow later. Although Nissan may have taken its time getting here, now that it is finally approaching this stage, it’s fully committing.

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