Nissan’s new hybrid engine aims to outperform the top models from Toyota and Hyundai.

Nissan is gearing up to unveil a new technology that could shake the dominance of brands such as Toyota, Hyundai and even its partner Renault in the world of hybrid engines. At the heart of it is a new three-cylinder unit, known internally as the ZR15DDTe.

This engine is the centrepiece of the third generation of Nissan’s e-Power technology, set to debut in the 2026 Nissan Qashqai, which is expected to arrive in Portugal in the final quarter of the year.

It may have only three cylinders, but it has a major task: helping to halt the crisis that has taken hold within the Japanese brand. Nissan has lost ground to its rivals and needs a decisive advantage to reverse the trend.

In practical terms, it is a 1.5-litre turbocharged unit engineered to work exclusively as a generator within Nissan’s well-known e-Power hybrid system.

Early figures for the Nissan e-Power ZR15DDTe look promising

According to the brand, the new engine will achieve 42% thermal efficiency, exceeding the 41% claimed by Toyota and Hyundai for their petrol engines that also form part of hybrid systems.

One distinguishing feature behind this efficiency is an unprecedented manufacturing process. This will be the first engine in the world to use valve seats applied by cold spray-a copper-based metal-alloy coating propelled at supersonic speeds directly onto the cylinder head.

Unlike traditional pressed-in seats, this approach makes it possible to create intake ports with less turbulence, ensuring more efficient airflow into the combustion chamber.

Exclusive patent and global ambition

Nissan has held the patent for this technology since April and stresses that it is not a matter of adapting existing cylinder heads to this production method. A dedicated design is required to accept spray-applied seats-a process that, until now, has largely been reserved for the aerospace and defence industries.

This Nissan move could put the Japanese marque back on level terms with Toyota, Hyundai and Renault. We have not yet been able to drive the Qashqai equipped with this engine, but we have already seen its potential by crossing the United Kingdom from one end to the other with an average of just 3.76 l/100 km.

Meanwhile, another brand set to join the “fight” in the hybrid-engine arena soon is Volkswagen. It will be the first time Volkswagen offers hybrid variants (full hybrid, which do not need plugging in) across its models-an approach that Toyota has been the leading champion of for the past three decades.