Last year, the Nissan Pathfinder was completely redesigned. Nissan sanded all the corners on the boxy, rough and rugged looking SUV, and turned it into a family-friendly crossover SUV. This year the manufacturer has made it a more eco-friendly vehicle. The 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid will be the first Pathfinder to welcome the assistance of an electric motor.
Hybrids often rely heavily on the use of an electric motor to bear the brunt of the work, but the Pathfinder Hybrid is not one of them. The electric motor is used to add to the torque and restart the engine when the driver takes their foot off the brake after a stop. It also works along with the gas engine to complete more power-hungry tasks such as accelerating, towing or passing that slow semi on the highway.
Nissan has implemented a regenerative braking system to convert the vehicle's kinetic energy, normally lost when braking, into electricity. That electricity is stored in the battery, conveniently located under the vehicle and used whenever it's needed. Only when absolutely necessary does the battery charge off of the fuel supply.
The 2.5L 4-cylinder gas engine has been supercharged and is able to put out the same amount of power as the fuel-only Pathfinder. The engine completely shuts down while the vehicle is coasting or stopped as an additional way of saving fuel. The Pathfinder Hybrid is rated at 27 mpg highway and has a range of up to 526 miles, an increase from last year's model.
