Nissan Note e-Power Nismo S is a hotted-up hybrid hatchback

The tuners at Nissan’s Nismo division have launched the Note e-Power Nismo S for sale this week in Japan. It’s a higher-powered version of the Note e-Power, a series hybrid in which electric power to turn the wheels is generated by a 1.2-liter gasoline three-cylinder generator that feeds a small, 1.5 kWh battery. The Note e-Power Nismo S makes the equivalent of 134 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, compared to the 109 hp and 187 lb-ft of the standard Note e-Power Nismo, as it’s been known in Japan since its introduction in late 2016.

While Nissan sells a non-hybrid version of this vehicle in the U.S. as the Versa Note, the e-Power Nismo S one isn’t destined to come stateside. Nissan has said it will bring its e-Power series hybrids to Infiniti for new electrified vehicles available starting in 2021. Nissan is also targeting sales of 1 million fully electric and e-Power vehicles annually by fiscal 2022.

The Note e-Power Nismo S shares the same structural enhancements and suspension as its less-powerful sibling but adds custom tuning for its inverter and vehicle control module, increased electrical output and an improved reduction drive. It also gains LED headlights and custom Nismo S badging on the front and rear.

Nissan says the Note e-Power was the best-selling registered non-minicar in Japan for the first half of 2018.

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