► All new facelift Qashqai driven
► New styling and interior
► Evolutionary, not revolutionary
Say hello to the new Nissan Qashqai, but make it quick because it won’t be around for much longer. Not in its current arrangement, anyway. The internal combustion part of Nissan’s smash hit family crossover is getting cut from the party later this decade. The Qashqai will then become an all-electric affair, rounding off a trifecta of EVs set to be built at its Sunderland Plant alongside an all-electric Juke and a new Leaf.
But what about this Qashqai? It may be the ICE version’s swansong, but it’s still got a crucial role to play in the manufacturer’s plans over the next few years. Nissan wants to increase its sales volume by a million units come 2030 while lowering production costs, all to strengthen its market position before diving head-first into a 100% EV sales mix.
The plans form part of Nissan’s Ark strategy, and the new Qashqai will be pivotal to its success. So, with that in mind, the manufacturer has given its prize pony a makeover for 2024, with several exterior and interior updates included as part of the refresh.
We’ve given it a thorough test on the roads of southern Portugal, so read on to find out everything you need to know about the new 2024 Nissan Qashqai.
At a glance
Pros: Sharp new styling, impressive new tech, fresh interior design
Cons: E-Power can be a bit irksome, lively body roll, lacks performance
What’s new?
Not much on the driving front, but the interior and exterior have undergone a hefty makeover. The Qashqai’s front end has been revisited, with new design language that incorporates three-dimensional comma-shapes. They’ve been designed to emulate the scales of a Samurai’s amour, apparently, and along with a pair of sharper, thinned-out headlights, complete an arguably meaner and more focussed face for the crossover. We dig it.
The front end’s design language continues around the back, too, where the taillight lighting elements have also been updated in the comma style, with a deeper red hue and housed within clear lenses for greater clarity.
Fancy a flush, consistent body colour your (almost) whole Qashqai over? Well, now you can as part of a new N-Design trim grade. It includes body-coloured door sills and wheel arches, and all-new 20” alloys underneath.
Moving inside, a fresh strip of optional Alcantara has been introduced that extends from the dashboard to the bolstering of the rear seats, while the centre console and upper dashboard have been enveloped with a curious new finish. We think it looks like something somewhere between galvanised steel and carbon fibre.
But don’t forget the uprated tech. Nissan has really gone to town on its parking assistance systems, ranging from a crispy-clear 360deg camera feed with eight different angles – on top of the classic birds-eye – to an all-new invisible hood view, or ‘Harry Potter Mode’ among certain Nissan circles.
With this function, drivers can view a stripped-back perspective of the car’s wheel positions, free from any obstruction by the Qashqai’s body, which can then be utilised to confidently park the car without curbing it. Clever stuff.
What’s the interior like?
Now one of the world’s pre-eminent and best-loved family cars, the Qashqai’s interior has always played a critical role in the model’s success. To cope with the unpredictability of family life, the pre-update’s interior combined comfort and robustness in equal measure. The good news is that these virtues are largely carried over, as the new Qashqai’s build quality is excellent with a soft homely ambiance. It has the feel of a premium yet family-oriented cabin – solid and properly put together, while the fresh strip of Alcantara adds a contemporary twist.
It could prove divisive as a Qashqai interior material, having so many performance car connotations, but we find it serves well to break up the hard surfaces. Our only gripe is that the area of the front passenger door where your hand most naturally falls is not covered with the material, though the panels directly above and behind are. A small oversight, perhaps. Nothing terminal.
The Alcantara is complemented by a new material finish around the dashboard and redesigned centre console. The material has a slightly peculiar look, and we’ve struggled conclude exactly what it imitates – carbon fibre, galvanised steel, a monotone Goyard leather handbag? We’ll leave the final verdict up to you.
With identical dimensions to the previous Qashqai, roominess inside the cabin remains same. It’s a highly commodious interior, with plenty of headroom fore and aft to easily accommodate a full load of adult passengers. The consistency of the rear bench’s trim layout relative to the front is also commendable; there’s plenty of the same Alcantara material on the rear doors to match the front, elevating the premium character of the entire cabin.
To top it off, the infotainment system is sharp, precise and excellently responsive from the small, unassuming screen that protrudes out the dash. Google services are baked in as part of the Nissan Connect infotainment system, but that’s no bad thing as they’re highly useable with voice activation to control everything from the seat heaters to the ventilation.
What’s it like to drive?
In a few words: a bit odd. In N-Design trim, at least.
Nissan has stuck with its 187bhp E-Power drivetrain for the new Qashqai – a drive system that utilises its combustion engine solely for the purposes of charging batteries or powering the electric motor. Think of it like a three-cylinder turbocharged generator hooked up to an otherwise full EV.
Nissan says the Qashqai has the performance characteristics of an electric car, with plenty of poke to get you off the line, but real-world driving doesn’t quite back that statement up. The Qashqai has 243ftlbs of torque, but the sensation of an instantaneous pull familiar to electric-only motoring is absent – it still feels like it needs the engine to spool up to do most of the heavy lifting
And we have to mention the noise it makes. The engine is programmed to increase its rev speed as you accelerate, so as not to create a disconnect between how fast you’re going and what you can hear. When you put your foot down, the engine builds in volume with a crescendo, but it has a rather tortured tone – a growl laboured with the type of reluctance a dog might respond with when ordered to move from your spot on the sofa. A turbocharged three-cylinder was never going to be a classical tenor, but its note can become quite intrusive.
In EV only mode, the E-Power motor is competent while the ride is supple. Unlike your typical hybrid EV-only mode with tens of miles of range, the Qashqai’s can only manage around two or three – it’s really just for silently – and politely – pulling away from your street early in the morning or late at night, according to Nissan.
The Qashqai is also available with a 156bhp mild hybrid power unit that can be configured with either a manual or a CVT gearbox. We weren’t able to give it a go, but if you value a bit of extra poke, we’d recommend opting for the E-Power.
As a family car, it will no doubt still appeal as a city runabout, with soft suspension that you can easily settle into. But up to speed and on the twisty open roads of our south Portugal test route, it felt a little out of place.
The new Qashqai leans into corners with a certain discomposure – keen to understeer while the tyres fight hard to retain grip (with some noise produced in the process). It didn’t feel relaxed, and this wasn’t even under any great duress.
The new Qashqai’s sport mode sharpens up the acceleration response a little, but we don’t reckon this is worth troubling if you want a relaxing drive. The ride follows suit when on the boil – still a healthy amount of float in normal mode, but a bit more agitated and prone to push you around when the road surface falls short of even.
We suspect the lumpy ride could be attributed to the 20″ wheels of N-Design trim, though, as we also tested an N-Connecta model – complete with 18″ wheels and leather interior inserts over the N-Design’s Alcantara – and it felt softer and more compliant. We reckon it’s the more natural family car, so if you value comfort over sportiness or projections of grandeur, this could be the trim to go for.
Where the Qashqai really shines is in its low-speed manoeuvring. Owing to a deft set of optional parking cameras, the car can provide you with a comprehensive perspective of your surroundings. Parking has truly never been so easy, which will no doubt appeal greatly to urban residents with plenty of high curbs and narrow streets nearby.
Overall, it’s not a bad car to drive. Pushed beyond its regular remit of school runs or other family duties and you may find it a bit disorderly, but the new Qashqai can still be quiet, comfortable and refined when you want it to be. We’ll report back our findings when you we’ve given it a go on UK roads.
What about the specs?
So far, we know that the Qashqai’s E-Power motor comprises of a three-cylinder engine that’s hooked up to a 140kW electric motor or the 1.8kwh battery. According to the quoted WLTP figures, the Qashqai should be capable of between 41 and 44mpg, while the emissions are quoted at 141-160g/km depending on the trim grade. The total power output of the drivetrain system is 187bhp and 243ftlbs of torque. Will update this page when we have more of the new Qashqai’s specs.
What about trim grades?
The Qashqai’s trim grades now kick off with Acenta Premium for £30,135 – Visia trim has been given the chop. In this most basic trim, you get 17″ alloy wheels, a 12.3″ infotainment display and a rear view camera, among many other extras. Next up, there’s N-Connecta, which introduces Google built-in 18″ alloy wheels and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, then the all-new N-Design grade with Nissan’s special full body colour scheme for £34,845. From N-Design the system shifts laterally up to Tekna for the same money, before topping off with Tekna+. This range topping trim includes 20″ wheels and quilted, massaging front seats – all for £38,87.
As for rivals, in this class they’re many. The Qashqai’s plight to fend off well-rounded offerings from Kia in the Sportage, Lexus in the UX hybrid and Peugeot in the 3008 will continue, though this level up will do nothing to harm the Qashqai’s purported status as the class king.
Verdict
Previous Qashqai’s have been hugely popular, notably in 2022 when it became the best-selling car in the UK. You can understand why, as that model adroitly combined style with practicality in a way that clearly spoke to buyers – it’s difficult to see how this latest facelift version could fall short of the same response. There are perhaps a few niggles in the way the new car drives, but the Qashqai now has a contemporary style to modernise the brand, with many of the same core principles are all still present and correct. If you want an ICE Qashqai before they put them out to pasture, now is probably the time to buy.