Nissan has revealed what is almost certainly the 2022 Nissan Rogue Sport, with updated styling and unique hybrid drivetrain options. Though we should note, we haven’t officially been told that the vehicle you’re looking at is the Rogue Sport.
Worldwide, the company sells this subcompact SUV as the Nissan Qashqai. In America, it goes by the Rogue Sport name. It’s not a sportier model of the Rogue. It gets the name partially (we’re sure) in hopes it will borrow some of the larger Rogue’s sales success, and partially (we assume) to deny us all the pleasure of trying to pronounce Qashqai and disagreeing with everyone else over what exactly that word sounds like.
The vehicle before you here is, in the rest of the world, known as the 2021 Nissan Qashqai. That almost certainly means it will come stateside later this year as the 2022 Rogue Sport.
Exterior changes are small. It gets a larger grille than today’s car (every new car design seems to get a larger grille). The new model sports thin LED daytime running lights above the headlights (every new car design seems to sport thin LED daytime running lights above the headlights). It wears new, sharp-edged character lines to offset some of its curves (every…you know what goes in the parenthesis). And the rear pillars a blacked out, creating a floating roof effect (though why Nissan didn’t use that opportunity to create a two-tone color scheme with an off-color roof option, we’re not sure…and we surprised you with something different in the parenthesis).
The Rogue Sport cabin benefits from technology updates, but there’s otherwise little change to the cabin. A 9-inch touchscreen now offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard equipment. Higher trim levels come with massaging front seats and wireless charging capability.
Mild Hybrid Tech Added
Mechanically, the (probable) Rogue Sport gets some interesting powertrains. At the low end is a 1.3-liter 4-cylinder making 138 horsepower. A step up is a more powerful, still 1.3-liter 4-cylinder making 156. Both of these are mild hybrids that use a small electric motor to allow the engine to switch off when the car is coasting or idling, and restart it quickly once it needs power again.
A third hybrid option features a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, but one that doesn’t connect mechanically to the wheels. That engine acts only as a generator, feeding a battery that powers an electric motor. This combination is good for 187 horsepower and allows one-pedal driving. Curiously, there is no plug, and no way to charge the battery other than to burn gasoline. This might have been normal when hybrids first appeared, but with the popularity of plug-in hybrids today, Nissan’s decision not to add a plug and market this as a partial EV is strange.
Power goes to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission or a 6-speed manual.
Nissan’s ProPilot suite of driver aids is standard on automatic transmission Qashqais (wow…see how much fun it is as a plural noun? Nissan, c’mon…give us this). It allows the driver to set a speed like conventional cruise control, then the vehicle adjusts as speed limits change, and brakes if the vehicle ahead of it brakes.
Pricing will come later this year when Nissan officially notifies us that the 2021 Qashqai will be the 2022 Rogue Sport in America. The outgoing Rogue Sport starts at $23,860.
