Nissan NX8 2027 review: international first drive

Underpinning a large part of the Nissan’s brand rejuvenation and volume plans for 2030 is its Chinese joint-venture with Dongfeng – the combined brains trust behind the Frontier Pro plug-in-hybrid ute, the N7 electric sedan, N6 plug-in-hybrid sedan and now this NX8 medium SUV.

Most of these vehicles are currently ‘under consideration’ for Australia – hence why we’ve flown to Japan for a taste of what is potentially in store.

The new-from-the-ground-up NX8 is arguably the most crucial vehicle for our market, however, seeing that it would lob directly into our highest-volume category and would perfectly supplement the new-generation petrol and hybrid X-Trail (due late 2027).

Offered in full-EV and range-extender versions in China, the NX8 effectively adds two more powertrain options to Nissan’s medium-SUV bag of tricks and packs plenty of sophistication and technology.

Riding on an all-new K1-RWD platform with 800-volt architecture, the electric versions span 73-81kWh battery sizes and 215-250kW power outputs, with a WLTP range covering 476km (73kWh battery) to 533km (81kWh battery). The big-battery version can handle an astonishing 463kW of DC charge and go from 10 to 80 percent in just 12 minutes.

The range-extender combines a new Dongfeng-developed, Nissan-tuned 109kW 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder with a 195kW electric motor on the rear axle and two battery sizes – 21.2kWh (for 123km of electric range) or a beefy 43.2kWh (for a benchmark 254km of electric range).

These electric and range-extender units power an all-new platform featuring strut front suspension, multi-link independent rear suspension, ‘e-damper’ adaptive damping and a super-strong body structure with a claimed torsional rigidity of 44,100Nm/degree. So on paper, the NX8’s credentials appear state-of-the-art and rock-solid.

It’s seemingly right-sized too – straddling the medium and large SUV categories at 4870mm long, 1920mm wide and 1680mm tall, riding on a long 2917mm wheelbase.

The resultant cabin space puts the NX8 right at the front of its class for rear-seat legroom. With a fully flat floor, a deep-set cushion, excellent vision and 60/40-split electric rear backrest recline, it’s better than the X-Trail when it comes to hauling bodies.

The NX8 also has an impressively spacious boot – 773 litres according to the official measurement, though this likely includes the deep well beneath the floor (ala Tesla Model Y) which acts as a surprise-and-delight feature if you weren’t expecting anything underneath. The rear backrests electrically fold flat but there appears to be no luggage cover.

Our test NX8 is a Premium Edition EV with the larger 81kWh battery, meaning 250kW/310Nm outputs, 20-inch alloys with 235/50R20 Michelin tyres, animated lighting at both ends (2.4-metre ‘run-through’ front lights and OLED tail-lights capable of forming graphics such as love hearts and monsters), electric doors with frameless windows, and ‘e-damper’ adaptive suspension.

Inside, the standard equipment runs deep, including every-which-way electric front seats with electric leg rests, massage and heating/cooling – matching the massage and heating/cooling for the outboard rear positions.

They’re comfortable and the vinyl is soft, but we’re talking a synthetic material lacking in texture and expense, rather than real-leather facings or a classy textural combination of cloth, vinyl and microfibre. It’s more ‘affordable’ than luxurious.

The Chinese do love a touch of colour though, and our test car’s grey/light-cream combo seems preferable to the dark grey alternative (and the N7 sedan’s rather sickly grey/pastel-chocolate or its version of grey/white with intense mermaid-green accent panels). Plus, the NX8’s cabin is light and airy, with a tinted all-glass roof adding to the effect.

The dashboard is crowned with a pair of 15.6-inch screens – one for the centre and an adjacent twin for the front passenger. We had such limited time inside and behind the wheel of the NX8 that we can’t yet comment on the functionality of the screens but in theory, there’s a chance they may work better as a pair than having just one cinemascopic screen.

We also didn’t get a chance to try the surround-sound stereo with Dolby Atmos, though with 25 speakers and 2000 watts, it may prove to be the exception to the disappointing reality of many Chinese cars with a gazillion speakers – the majority of which don’t sound good.

At Nissan’s closed test track outside of Tokyo, its very few laps under speed-limited conditions. It’s usually this way in Japan – a long way to go for not much drive time. But it was useful to glean a few things about the way the electric NX8 flagship drives.

Firstly, it steers keenly and feels strong. The steering has 2.6 turns lock-to-lock and there’s an immediacy of response from straight ahead that bodes well for the NX8’s dynamism on a twisty road, and even though the steering is light, its weighting is consistent.

Combine that with neutral handling balance and a solid-feeling structure and there’s a chance the NX8 will translate well to Australian roads.

On its ‘e-damper’ suspension, the NX8 appeared to deal with the test track’s modest lumps and bumps better than the fixed-damper N7 sedan, with better body control than its mushier sibling.

But we’re talking in relative terms here because there were no Aussie-style heaves or damping challenges, and the cornering limits weren’t explored. Nor any rear-drive balance adjustment.

While our NX8 was the big-battery, higher-power version, 250kW/310Nm places it somewhere in the middle of the electric medium-SUV segment.

Compared to Mazda’s forthcoming rear-drive CX-6e (190kW/290Nm, 484km WLTP) and the base rear-drive Skoda Enyaq 60 Select (150kW/310Nm, 410km WLTP), the rear-drive NX8 (offering 533km of WLTP range) seems to be a good fit.

But it lacks the torque and punch of a higher-grade Skoda Enyaq or Volkswagen ID.4 (210kW/545Nm, 544km WLTP) – countered by much quicker charging times thanks to the Nissan’s 800-volt architecture.

Meanwhile, the long-range, rear-drive Zeekr 7X ($63,900) seems the closest rival: sharing an 800-volt platform and ultra-fast charging (420kW DC for the 7X, 10-80 percent in 13mins), though the Zeekr has a larger battery (100kWh), higher outputs (310kW/440Nm), more range (615km WLTP) and likely stronger acceleration (0-100km/h in 6.0sec).

The NX8 isn’t slow, but its ability to gather pace eases off above 100km/h and it’s clearly the antithesis of a neck-snapping electric SUV. Nissan said it wanted to eliminate car sickness – an increasing problem among the proliferation of poorly-calibrated EVs – and so any rough edges on the NX8 appear to have been neatly rounded off, at least on first impression.

Whether the NX8’s suspension tune over challenging Aussie surfaces manages to keep the kids’ breakfast down remains to be seen – as does Nissan’s decision to go with the comfort-biased Chinese-market tune for export or to push for something with more discipline.

We’d suggest a concerted program of international evaluation, including hot-weather climates for air-conditioning effectiveness (the undoing of many Chinese vehicles, regardless of price) as well as roughly surfaced and often-punishing Australian country roads.

Having driven the MY26 X-Trail ST recently and come away highly impressed with its handling precision and fully-loaded composure, it’s clear that Nissan’s chassis engineers know how to set-up a car properly.

If the NX8 does get a green light for Australia, it’s unlikely to arrive here before 2027. And even then, there’s been no mention as to which drivetrain we’ll get, which battery size we’ll get or how many variants are being considered. All of that remains on the table.

But if we were to speculate, we’d say electric NX8 only, with the big 81kWh battery in two or three trim levels – the top-spec (like our test Premium Edition) being priced somewhere around $55-$60K (based on Mazda’s CX-6e pricing). Or perhaps slightly more. At that level it would be deep in the thick of Zeekr 7X/Tesla Model Y/Kia EV5 territory.

The Nissan NX8 may not be a sexy car, but it’s a conservatively stylish one with an array of features (such as classy frameless doors, interesting lighting and a cooled rear seat) that add some showroom sparkle to this substantial medium SUV.

If the dynamics are on point and Nissan can find a way to extract a bit more torque from the electric version, then the NX8 has a decent chance of making a solid impact among the heavily populated medium SUV sector – especially given Nissan’s dealer coverage and warranty proposition.