RAY MASSEY: Fast new ride for chart-topping Nissan Qashqai

Taylor Swift is a big fan of Nissan’s Qashqai. Two years ago, the billionaire pop star bought one of the practical British family SUVs so she could travel around the UK incognito.

She’s in good company. Nissan’s Sunderland plant has produced more than four million Japanese crossovers since the original first-generation model was launched in 2007.

Since then, it has been the UK’s best-selling family SUV every year, and in 2022 it was the best-selling new car – the first time a British-made engine has topped the list in 24 years.

Nissan has now given its best-selling Qashqai a facelift, improving styling, interior technology and finish, and bringing it more in line with the all-electric Nissan Ariya SUV.

This includes LED lighting inspired by Samurai armor, three new exterior colors and an N-Design trim.

The enhanced ‘Around View Monitor’ system has a 3D function that allows the driver to view the car from above and visualise it from eight external viewpoints to help identify hazards.

A feature – officially called ‘invisible bonnet view’, but also known as ‘Harry Potter view’ – allows the driver to see the front wheels as if they were looking through an ‘invisible’ bonnet, allowing them to manoeuvre safely in tight spaces.

The flagship Qashqai is a powerful and innovative electrified ‘e-Power’ hybrid – essentially a mini power plant on wheels that generates electricity.

The e-Power version uses the 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with three cylinders to generate electricity. This electricity then powers the electric motor that drives the wheels and charges the vehicle’s battery via an automatic transmission.

Nissan has given its best-selling Qashqai a facelift to improve style, interior technology and finish

The enhanced ‘Around View Monitor’ system has a 3D function that allows the driver to view the car from above and visualize it from eight external viewpoints.

The flagship Qashqai is a powerful and innovative electrified ‘e-Power’ hybrid – essentially a mini power plant on wheels that generates electricity

Nissan’s Sunderland plant has produced more than four million Japanese crossovers

Nissan believes this package is “a stepping stone for customers who are not yet ready to make the switch to 100 percent electric,” and that it provides the feeling of an electric car without the need to charge it.

I drove the £43,735 Qashqai Tekna e-Power 2-wheel drive full-hybrid . This spacious, practical and flexible five-seater family car is a smooth driver with official fuel economy of 53.3mpg and low CO2 emissions of 119g/km.

Prices for the updated Qashqai range start at £30,135.