The Nissan Kicks crossover is about to debut in neighbouring Thailand in range extender e-Power form this March 19, Headlight Magazine reports. The unveiling of the Kicks e-Power will come just under a week before the 2020 Bangkok International Motor Show opens this year. Headlight Magazine says that Nissan is pushing for its e-Power technology particularly in Thailand as internal combustion engined vehicle cannot meet the criteria for electrified vehicles in the country, and its Note e-Power hatchback will be superseded by the Kicks e-Power in Thailand.

The Thai government, via the Board of Investment (BoI) confirmed on July 25, 2018 that a major investment project by Nissan Thailand for the expanding of production of its hybrid vehicle and e-Power range extender technologies has been approved. 


According to the statement by the BoI, the Nissan Thailand facility is located in the Bang Sao Thong district within the Samut Prakan province, and will use raw materials worth more than 15,920 million baht annually in the production of Nissan e-Power vehicles, which were originally produced in the automaker’s native Japan. In brief, the Nissan e-Power system is technically an electric vehicle powertrain as a generator that sends electricity to an electric motor. In the case of the forthcoming Kicks e-Power, a 1,198 cc three-cylinder HR12DE internal combustion engine with 79 hp and 103 Nm of torque supplies power to the EM57 electric motor, which outputs 129 hp and 254 Nm of torque to the driven wheels, according to Headlight Magazine.

This appears to be a development of the power unit in the Note e-Power, which used the 79 PS/103 Nm 1.2 litre HR12DE to supply a 109 PS/254 Nm electric motor from the previous Leaf. The range extender configuration provides the benefits of an EV, such as immediate torque from a standstill, without range anxiety or long charging times as there is no need to manually charge the battery from a plug and socket. The Kicks e-Power will be launched as part of the facelifted Kicks model range when it makes its global launch in Thailand at the same time. This comes a little under four years after the launch of the current-generation Kicks, which made its debut in May 2016 in Brazil.