Nissan Says Farewell To The 2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid
By Paulo Acoba
Drop two cylinders, add a supercharger and throw in an electric motor. People will love it…
Thanks to our friends over at Automotive News who have their ear on the ground at all times, news just hit earlier today (July 1, 2015) that Nissan is dropping the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid altogether for 2016 and beyond. It seemed like a good idea at the time when it was first brought to market in 2013. Stick a battery pack underneath and sandwich a 20 HP electric motor between the supercharged four-cylinder and the CVT. Heck, Toyota did it with their Toyota Highlander and everything seemed to be going peachy over there. Suddenly, the OPEC wars versus cheap shale oil hit the United States and gas prices plummeted and so did the demand for Americans wanting hybrids at all. How shortsighted you might say. And like the dodo bird, the hybrid SUV fell out of fashion. So much so that Nissan just pulled the plug altogether.
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When compared to its conventional gasoline-powered twin, the Hybrid Nissan Pathfinder returned only one MPG better, hardly enough to justify the $6,000 premium over the identical gas-powered one.Unlike other hybrids, the battery did not intrude into passenger space and was pretty much out of the way. But like many people who’ve bought these Hybrid SUV’s expecting Prius like MPG’s, customers were sorely disappointed. Even when Car and Driver pitted its long-term gas powered Pathfinder against the Hybrid version, the Hybrid actually returned one MPG less on average overall, a similar fate they observed in the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Perhaps these Hybrid SUV’s were just EPA test queens and nothing more.
The Nissan Pathfinder in its own right is already an impressive piece of kit with plenty of room, power, and features to satisfy anyone in the market for an SUV. In the end, its gas powered self was its own worse enemy. If you really have a hankering for a Nissan Hybrid that seats seven or more, look to the Infiniti QX60 where this powertrain will live on.