Hint: check out Nissan’s online car configurator
Previously available in China, the Nissan Murano Hybrid is officially a part of Nissan's US lineup, but the Japanese carmaker decided to opt for an under the table approach. That means no welcome party and no preliminary announcement, just a subtle but significant change in the brand's US online car configurator feature.
EPA hinted at this arrival a couple of months ago, when the agency published fuel economy figures for the Murano Hybrid, but a launch date for the model was never specified.
In any case, from now on, clients will have a more affordable alternative to the Lexus RX450h. Nissan offers the Murano Hybrid in two trim levels, namely SL Hybrid and Platinum Hybrid.
Nissan Murano SL Hybrid wears a starting sticker of $40,950 and offers FWD as standard, but customers can upgrade to AWD for extra $1,600. As far as the Murano Platinum Hybrid is concerned, you'll have to pay at least $43,000 to acquire one.
Both versions rely on the same hybrid powertrain used by the now canceled third-row Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid. Therefore, we're looking at a duo made of a 2.5-liter four-cyl supercharged gasoline unit working together with a 20-horsepower electric motor for a mixed output of 250 hp.
As a side mention, that's 10 hp short when compared to the 3.5-liter V6 powerplant found in the standard Murano. Furthermore, in charge of handling these resources discussed above is a CVT (continuously variable transmission) gearbox while the electric motor (with a peak torque value of 118 lb-ft) draws its juice from a Li-ion battery pack.
Other standard amenities include LED DRLs and taillights, automatic headlights, fog lights, power & heated side mirrors with LED turn signals and a power liftgate.
Optional goodies include a panoramic roof, intelligent cruise control, forward emergency braking and predictive forward collision warning.
According to Nissan, the front-wheel drive Murano Hybrid can return anywhere around 28 mpg city and 31 mpg highway, while the slightly thirstier all-wheel-drive variant promises 26 mpg city and 30 mpg highway.