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2018 Nissan Serena e-POWER


primera38
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20 minutes ago, Didu said:

Not every organization is lucky to have someone like Steve Jobs who's a visionary. Someone like that actually told customer what they need in a phone. Before that folks are happily punching keypads on their Nokia. If I tell my kids people last time participate in competition for quickest SMS typing, they'll go 🙄.

The best smser can even sms with the phone in their trousers pocket without looking.

At least that's what I think they were doing.

:grin:

This reminds me of a story on public speaking.

A CEO stood up to make a practice speech and they video taped him to play back for improvements.

When they reviewed the tape he saw that he would jingle the coins in his pocket without realising it.

So the public image consultants advised him to take out the coins so there would be no jingling sounds.

So the CEO made a public speech and everyone was shock with what his hands was doing in his trousers pocket.

Public image consultants can sometimes get it wrong and get it wrong very badly.

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@Unknown79 iirc, there's no gearbox in Serena and until it has went through the test of time, I will still bring it back to TC for servicing after the 3rd year because this technology is relatively new in the market and no, I do not want to risk getting damage or mishandled by outside workshops. No offense though.  

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The ePower is not new, new only in Singapore. The first ePower was used in the Nissan Note in Japan since 2016. Given Nissan’s experience with EV in the Leaf, the ePower is just a combo of EV and ICE. Something that Nissan has been doing for a long time.  

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No gearbox nothing to spoil lah.

Why need to bring back to AD?

If got gearbox I will bring back to AD because gearbox up lorry very expensive to repair.

:D

The ICE and electric motor nothing much can go wrong.

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4 hours ago, Cklasse said:

The ePower is not new, new only in Singapore. The first ePower was used in the Nissan Note in Japan since 2016. Given Nissan’s experience with EV in the Leaf, the ePower is just a combo of EV and ICE. Something that Nissan has been doing for a long time.  

Exactly. This is not new technology. Nissan did a good job in design something different. But everything behind is not new. 

Only in SG people debate on whether hybrid system is reliable... 

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From what I know about the Nissan e-power technology, the car is really fully powered by an electric motor via a battery bank. The petrol engine operates as an electrical generator that is used to power an alternator to charge the battery. This motor would be simple as it could be designed to drive a constant load and does not need to provide power and torque across different loads and rpms. Any reasonable workshop should be able to do repairs and maintain the petrol engine.

Having said that the electronics would be the one to watch out for. Depending on the design, the electronics should be kept clean, away from moisture and have good cooling and ventilation. The maintenance cycles could be different from that of regular cars. It is important to check the electrical connections, corrosion, if any and to ensure those electrical and electronic parts that are exposed to the elements are cleaned.

With more hybrid and full EV cars entering the markets, workshops will need to be updated. I will be concern if any workshop handles electronic components with greasy hands or leaving electronics in the open without protection.

My interactions with the service and sales consultant, even from the ADs, do not give me confidence that they are fully aware of the difference in handling EV and hybrid cars beyond what is written in the brochures. For example, a sales consultant told me that a vent in the back seat was an additional air con outlet. The operation manual says that the vent was actually an air inlet for the battery cooling system and should not be obstructed.😳 .

  

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Turbocharged
On 5/29/2020 at 10:01 PM, Cklasse said:

The Serena is good for city driving like In Singapore and Japan. I drive this in Japan and it fits in nicely with the slow easy going driving style of Japanese. Always move off easily and start stop traffic is a joy with single pedal mode. 
 

Similarly in Singapore, I do not mind a start stop traffic now in the Serena because the single pedal makes driving so easy. The torque makes moving off effortlessly. As long as one drives easy, the Serena is a good city car. 

i'm curious about single pedal. Is it intuitive? For a first time user, did you feel like you could make a mistake of pressing down hard to brake instead of lifting up?

How do you do emergency braking? 

Does it come with an optional brake pedal? 

Thinking if i drive this car and let the wife use it occasionally, what's the risk like?

 

 

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@Karoon 

11 minutes ago, Karoon said:

i'm curious about single pedal. Is it intuitive? For a first time user, did you feel like you could make a mistake of pressing down hard to brake instead of lifting up?

How do you do emergency braking? 

Does it come with an optional brake pedal? 

Thinking if i drive this car and let the wife use it occasionally, what's the risk like?

 

 

I have only driven the Nissan Kicks which is probably similar.  The 'single pedal driving' is a mode option that the driver chooses. Under this mode, when you lift your leg off the gas pedal, the motor in the wheels regenerates the motion to charge the battery. This 'work' cause the wheel to retard. The effect is somewhat similar to downshifting in a manual car.  The amount of deceleration can be controlled by how fast and how much you lift your foot from the gas pedal. Under the normal mode, there is still regenerative current when slowing down, but in the 'one=pedal' mode, this is more aggressive and the deceleration is more pronounced.

The brake pedal is still there, and it still works in the 'one-pedal' mode. In an emergency, pressing the brake pedal will still be effective. 

The car works like a normal 2-pedals auto if you do not select the one-pedal mode.

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Turbocharged
1 hour ago, kermitfm said:

@Karoon 

I have only driven the Nissan Kicks which is probably similar.  The 'single pedal driving' is a mode option that the driver chooses. Under this mode, when you lift your leg off the gas pedal, the motor in the wheels regenerates the motion to charge the battery. This 'work' cause the wheel to retard. The effect is somewhat similar to downshifting in a manual car.  The amount of deceleration can be controlled by how fast and how much you lift your foot from the gas pedal. Under the normal mode, there is still regenerative current when slowing down, but in the 'one=pedal' mode, this is more aggressive and the deceleration is more pronounced.

The brake pedal is still there, and it still works in the 'one-pedal' mode. In an emergency, pressing the brake pedal will still be effective. 

The car works like a normal 2-pedals auto if you do not select the one-pedal mode.

I see. Thanks. I thought the brake pedal is removed.

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@Karoon should go for a test drive. i found it very easy to get use to. didn't get the serena because got side tracked by COVID. some people complain about the generator cutting in but that's just because of the stark contrast between no sound (EV mode) and then suddenly the thing cutting in. most fuel efficient MPV currently

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Hi to Serena owners, will this car have a very loud revving engine noise when 1. You start to accelerate all the way to above 100km/hr, 2. If you are maintaining a speed of 100km/HR or more .i.e on expressway. 

No offense to anyone but I've noticed 99.9% of the time all Serena cars don't drive on the first lane. Any reason why? 

TIA! 

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Gentle accelerating to 100 or harsh accelerating to 100?

Harsh one would require more engine power so it'll rev harder. Does it rev very loud? Subjective. Road noise is going to be a significant distraction. Radio noise as well. 

 

At 100 and above, the engine will likely keep revving in the background but the RPM is constantly humming away and again road noise is likely to drown that out. 

 

I tend not to drive in 1st lane because I like to keep to the eco meter to optimise mileage, and we tend to let regen braking do most of the work of slowing down. So not so aggressive driving. 

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Neutral Newbie
(edited)

@Tlks I always drive Lane 1. Somehow when we’re in Lane 1, we tend to drive more ‘aggressively’. Any other lanes, we’ll just try to keep up with the front vehicle without hogging like Cement trucks to maximise mileage. 

 

Cannot expect Lexus quiet though. Pretty much immune to the mild charging noises while cruising, only very noisy if you floor the accelerator  engine will scream together with your right leg

Edited by NickYong
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On 5/23/2020 at 9:57 PM, Heartlander said:

From sgcarmart, both Stepwagon and Serena got 6 airbags.

If it comes down to only these 2 models, the decision will be much easier.

If priority is FC and AD, then get Serena.

If want a chio car that looks good both inside and outside, with very functional interior layout, and with complete safety package, then get Stepwagon. This is not to say FC for Stepwagon is no good. Take my case as a reference. Btw do not say I got this car so am biased. I went Nissan showroom in the morning to touch and test-drive Serena without thinking that I will go see any more car as not in my radar actually. Was quite fixated on Serena but frankly I did not feel strongly about it after the session. Then my wife suggested go Megamart to jalan jalan since it is just behind. Then caught sight of Stepwagon and really love at first sight! 

And I would think for people around 50 years old, both are good car to retire on as they are so spacious and functional and can serve the growing up kids well, yet relatively cheap to maintain. I am thinking of chionging up North when things turn normal. Am sure this car will do well for such use haha.

Just surfing around on MCF and I came across this very interesting thread for me and my family has both cars. Serena EP and Stepwagon Spada.

Serena is definitely more powerful and a little more spacious. It is also quieter, bar the occasional charging sound. Stepw has a much nicer interior and cockpit and the Honda sensing helps you drive safer. FC wise, Serena is probably about 10% better than Stepw.

So what I do now is to drive the Serena for short trips and Stepw for longer trips, as we are wfh and usually don’t need to use both cars at the same time.

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Hello Serena owners, do you have any feedback that this car had issues going up genting highlands? anyone tried going up genting highland before?

Edited by PaulMeng
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To be honest, there's not enough data.

Pre Covid only saw 1 driver mentioned that going up with full load, you'll be reduced to max speed of 40km/h. 

Similarly there was another driver who mentioned that he had no issues going up with full load. 

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