QASH IS KING OF MILE HY CLUB...

Nissan's biggest hitter leaps into future with ease

- With John Mitchell

WE all know the score by now - Nissan popularise if not outright invent the crossover category back in 2006 by mating a hatchback with an SUV Pokemon-style and just 19 years the whole world is at it.

It's pretty hard now to get a car that's NOT a crossover with Toyota, VW, and in fact all the big hitters not just selling a model or two but actually accounting for the bulk of their output at every price point you can imagine.

Nissan repeated the trick with the vastly-superior second generation released here on a 141 badge and that did the numbers again.

And so it continues to the latest iteration - a car that's spiritually just around the corner from that first one way back when but technologically as far different as a skateboard and electric scooter.

Resisting the urge to go full electric with the cash cow (sorry Qashqai) Nissan have been trying out various engine techniques and their latest wheeze, the e-POWER system is on this week's test car.

In a nutshell the e-POWER uses a petrol engine solely to create electricity which is then used to propel and power the car.

It’s a unique and interesting take on the electric quandary we find ourselves in, though when I looked at the consumption levels (as low as 5.5l per 100km) it could explain why nobody else is at this.