Reacquainting ourselves with the Nissan Kicks e-POWER through the Bataan Loop

When Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) invited me to help plan out a small media drive with the Nissan Kicks e-POWER, I could not say no. After all, the vehicle in question was the AutoPH Car Of The Year for 2022. 

That’s how we ended up taking three units of the Nissan Kicks e-POWER for a quick overnight drive to the historical province of Bataan, tackling congested city streets, expressways, almost deserted mountain twisty roads, and straight open provincial highways. All those roads we believe where the Nissan Kicks e-POWER shines.

Assigned to us for this drive was the lowest mileage available test drive unit of the Nissan Kicks e-POWER in its top-spec VL trim, with only a little over 3,000 km on the odometer, compared to the other two which were both nearing the 20,000 km mark. Together with me is Isaac Atienza of Go Flat Out PH. Sharing the two other vehicles were Pablo Salapantan of YugaTech and YugaAuto, Kyle Liong of Kyle Liong Cars, Kevin Kho of Automart Philippines, Nathan Reyes of Jour.nate, and Earl Lee and Carlos Divino, both of Autodeal.com.ph.

Also joining us as a support car was a Nissan Kicks e-POWER in the mid-trim VE spec, painted in Riptide Blue, my personal favorite. This particular unit is fitted with an upgraded Infinity audio system and is detailed using SONAX products, both treasured AutoPH partners.

First Drive

We started our day with a quick meet-up at the Petron gas station along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Northbound in Marilao, Bulacan. With less than desirable rainy weather conditions and heavy traffic caused by an earlier road accident, we were already an hour behind schedule. We still made the most out of it and did some briefings, as well as refueling all the vehicles as we were going to conduct a fuel economy challenge.

With odometers reset and all vehicles refueled, we were off with me behind the wheel. Through a leisurely drive on the NLEX, the Nissan Kicks e-POWER flexed to us how comfortable it really is. It managed to absorb all road imperfections big or small, and kept the drive very quiet with near excellent noise insulation. At the same time, Nissan’s signature Zero Gravity Seats reduced any strain that we would get from longer drives.

And through the NLEX and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the trip computer showed us that we had an estimate average fuel economy of 19 km/l which was excellent given that hybrid vehicles tend to use up more fuel when on the highway as the internal combustion engine would need to operate a lot more than when inside the city.

The Bataan Loop

Again, we were gonna be driving the Bataan Loop. This involves starting inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone but of course, we had to eat first. Our first main stop was at the very popular Xtremely Xpresso Café in Subic Bay which coincidentally is one of my favorite restaurants. Here we filled up our bellies with comfort food, ready to take on the rest of our trip. Also at this point, the vehicle’s trip computer says that we’re averaging 20.1 km/l.

From there, we made our way through the first leg of the Bataan Loop with me as a passenger. Here we went through a couple of easy twisty mountain roads inside the Bataan National Park which provided for an amazing view of the West Philippine Sea, and tree-lined roads. 

Here the Nissan Kicks continued to shine as it took corners with ease, staying very planted with no body roll felt. And while we weren’t pushing too hard, my carmate definitely agreed that the Kicks is oh so fun to drive.

After about an hour, we arrived at our next stop which was the Japan-Philippines Friendship Tower in Bagac, Bataan. Put up in 1975, this landmark which is usually just driven past by, represents how the Philippines and Japan reconciled after all the events of World War II. Quite fitting as well as we were driving vehicles designed with Japanese technology, aiming to help the environment in the country.

Little Batanes of Bataan

Just a few minutes later, it was time to head to yet another not-so-popular stop, the Little Batanes. Only popularized over the pandemic by cyclists, this place offers a view of rolling hills and the sea from a few hundred meters above sea level. Or so we thought.

Once we got there, we were greeted by the sight of clouds coming closer, blocking the views. The wind was also quite strong making the 25°c weather into something like half of that. This didn’t stop us though as here we were to take photos for our photo challenge. Unfortunately, just a few minutes in, the rain started to pour so we all evacuated into our vehicles and set off for part 2 of the Bataan Loop.

Bataan Loop – Part 2

Now this is where the fun is at, the main highlight of the Bataan Loop is the section from Bagac to Mariveles town which features technical corners and amazing views, with extremely well-paved roads, plus barely any road traffic, making this the perfect place to stretch a vehicle’s legs. 

By the way, the Nissan Kicks e-POWER is mainly powered by its electric motor and lithium-ion battery. Without any charging ports, they are charged through the 1.2-liter HR12DE Inline 3-cylinder gasoline engine. Combined, they produce a total of 136 horsepower and 280 Nm of torque.

Yet again, the Nissan Kicks wowed us with how it’s able to handle the different twists and turns and obstacles, and the occasional road imperfections. When on inclines, power and torque were more than enough with linear acceleration making it feel so good to drive. Also, we used its B-Mode which uses regenerative braking to bring power to the electric motor, reducing the need to use fuel. 

A couple hours later, we drove on the highways of Bataan which proved the Kicks to be a comfortable cruiser. Do note that we stuck to the 80 kph speed limit as the local government is quite strict with several speed cameras placed along the stretch of highway. Nevertheless, as we made our way up to our resort for the night, it was time to have a last bit of fun for the day. By this time, our fuel economy reading has gone down to 18 km/l.

Our chosen resort, the Tanawin BnB at Sinagtala Farm Resort is located about 500 meters above sea level. The road going there is mostly straight but uphill, certainly eating up our fuel economy. And as the darkness went over us, so did extremely heavy rain which made the last part of the drive quite eventful.

Regardless, once checked-in, we all freshened up in our own rooms and spent the rest of the night eating some amazing food, drinking alcohol with cheers to a job well done for the drive. This doesn’t end there though as we still had the fuel economy challenge to complete.

Fuel Economy Challenge

To recap, we started the drive with a meetup at the Petron Service Station along NLEX northbound. We reset our trip computers and went on the drive without any refueling stops. 

Today, we made our way to the Petron Gas Station in Clark Global City where we were to end the challenge. One by one we fueled up, not allowed to see the results of the other teams and even ours. After that, we made our way to a local restaurant where our friends from Nissan Philippines would announce the challenge winner.

The winners were Pablo Salapantan, Kyle Liong, and Kevin Kho, who all in all consumed 18 liters of fuel in the over 370 kilometers of driving. On the other hand, we were at last place, consuming about 20 liters of fuel, but good to note that we were the lead car for most of the drive so we were at a disadvantage. 

Truly an amazing vehicle

Everything that happened during this drive shows how well the Nissan Kicks e-POWER does when it comes to saving fuel. We drove it through all types of road conditions possible and yet we got results that can beat pretty much any conventional vehicle out there. Not only that, we did it all in extreme confidence that what we were driving would not let us down.

Really, from the very first moment I drove the Nissan Kicks e-POWER before it was launched, to the long media drive to the province of Albay, to my twice week-long test drive, and to this drive around the beautiful province of Bataan, I must say, and others will agree, that the Nissan Kicks e-POWER is still a winner.