2022 Nissan Kicks e-Power is heading to Malaysia, teased in ETCM ad

If their Chinese New Year ad is anything to go by, Nissan in Malaysia will be gearing up for a busy year in 2022.

Besides its exhilarating tempo, the Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) CNY ad fleetingly teases the 2022 Nissan Kicks, leading to the notion that Nissan’s new B-segment SUV should be coming soon.

Although we've known for a while now that the Nissan Kicks was potentially coming to Malaysia, this is the first time Nissan themselves have dropped the hint.

Also read: Potential X50 and HR-V rival, 2021 Nissan Kicks e-Power delayed for Malaysia

The Nissan Kicks is Nissan’s answer to the likes of the Honda HR-V, Proton X50, Toyota Corolla Cross and Hyundai Kona.

Besides its snazzy SUV design, the 2022 Kicks will also introduce the company’s e-Power Hybrid system in Malaysia.

By definition, the Nissan e-Power drivetrain is a series-hybrid unlike Honda’s i-MMD and Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive systems, which are series-parallel hybrids.

Also read: Nissan Note e-Power: We drove Malaysia's most fuel-efficient car that you can't buy (yet); 2.8L/100km

In the case of Nissan’s e-Power, the engine doesn't drive the wheels and is only used as a generator to charge the high voltage battery, as opposed to series-parallel hybrids where the engine can both drive the wheels and charge the high voltage battery. 

Under the hood lies a 1.2-litre three-cylinder that feeds power to an electric motor that develops 129 PS and 260 Nm torque. Since it’s an electric vehicle, the Kicks e-Power does not require any ‘gearbox’ to send power to the front wheels.

Thailand is the only country outside of Japan to produce e-Power hybrid Nissan models, thus the Kicks e-Power currently being exported to Indonesia, Singapore, and even Japan all come from our neighbour up north.

Also read: Nissan Kicks e-Power launched in Indonesia; Malaysia in 2021?

Other notable features of the Nissan Kicks full suite of ADAS safety features such as Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Intelligent Emergency Braking System, and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) – depending on market and variant.

As it stands, the Nissan Kicks is already on sale in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

If we take Thailand as an example, prices of the Nissan Kicks e-Power range between THB 889k (RM 112k) and THB 1.049 million (RM 132k) – although this is not a straightforward comparison as tax structures are different.

In Indonesia, the Nissan Kicks e-Power most affordable hybrid SUV at Rp 449 million (RM 126,000).