Is the 2026 Nissan Rogue PHEV MORE than a rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander?
[Music] Hey guys, what’s up? It’s Joe Ready from Rady’s Rides. We’re still here at the Nissan booth for the 2025 LA Auto Show. And guess what? Something all new, which was literally just un kind of brought from under the covers on the interwebs and shown off. Well, guess what? We have it for you here in the flesh. What am I talking about? This vehicle right here. This is it. This is the all-new, first time ever 2026 Nissan Rogue PV. But before we get into this plug-in electric hybrid version of the Rogue, let’s talk about what’s going on here. So, yes, you heard correctly. No other time before today has there been a plug-in version of the Nissan Rogue. But, of course, Nissan wanting to bring new technology to the Rogue lineup. They brought the Rock Creek Edition trim just a couple years ago. Now they’re bringing more range. Now this is not a pure EV like the Leaf or the Arya. This has an internal combustion engine with two electric motors and you have the ability to drive on pure EV for a certain distance. What they’re trying to do, like I said, is open the gambit of the Rogue and bring more range to the lineup. So, what we got to do is we’re going to go through this Rogue and show it to you. I want you to let me know in the comment section. Will it be worth the price at the end of the day going with this all-new compact crossover? Why don’t we go ahead? Let’s dive in and find out. Right off the bat, the color. This red is just mesmerizing and really draws you in. I would have to argue that this is going to compete with Soul Red from Mazda. That’s how good of a red it is. Now, at the front of the business, you’re going to see a new kind of look to the Nissan Rogue. And yes, remember, Nissan and Mitsubishi do cooperate together. So, you might see some touches that maybe you’ve seen on a Mitsubishi vehicle, but let me know in the comments section if you think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Right at the off the bat, at the front of the business, you’ll notice nice signature LED lighting. Love the way they kind of sectioned off each of those inner pieces of the housing. And then you’re going to have a large quadrant of LED headlights, including an LED fog lamp. Now, everything in that gorgeous red, deep cherry red color. No kind of stuck on vents or anything like that. And it goes red all the way down. Now, as we come across the front grill section, I like the way that Nissan was able to take this vehicle and put the Nissan Votion grill into play. So, you’ll see that V motion shape up top, the silver, bringing it down in that horizontal bar level. You do have your Nissan badge, forward- facing camera within the flat black grill. And then as we continue our way down the red and the large opening on the lower portion with active shutters that will open and close to let more or less air in. And then of course you got to have a little bit of a sporty garnish, right? It’s like when you go to a fancy restaurant and they put like a big piece of parsley that you’re not even going to eat. You have that skid plate. This is what they call the skid plate garnish. I know Lori loves the name of that skid plate garnish on the bottom portion. But let me know what you think about the face of this Rogue. I understand where they’re going with it, and I do understand that it does look a bit like the Mitsubishi Outlander, but like I said, is that necessarily a bad thing. Let me know in that comment section. Now, as we rise up, look at how nice the hood meets with that upper portion of the front nose. You do get a nice little dip area in the center, but what’s underneath it? That’s really the telling part. So, you have a 2.4 L inline 4 naturally aspirated engine with two electric motors to produce 248 horsepower. It uses an 18 kW lithium ion battery pack. This is the fastest Rogue 0 to 60. 0 to 60 in 6.5 seconds. MPG is 64 combined. And then guess what? on pure EV, you could do up to 38 miles with this vehicle. So, that’s the good the big key, right? Is that if you live 15 miles away from work, you leave from work, you come back and you haven’t even used a drop of gas. That’s what you’re going to get from this new Rogue. Now, as we come around the bend, what do we got going on? Wheel and tire. So, what you’re going to notice some really good looking gloss black wheels, V-spoke design all the way around. You’re looking at a 20-in wheel. Tires are going to be 235, excuse me, 225 on the width, and then you have that nice sidewall. It’s not too low, not too thick. The only thing I would like to see is I would have liked to have seen this painted around the fender openings, but I think that the wheel design with this color definitely gives this Rogue a nice sporty appearance. Now, coming down the side, you do have gloss black on the mirror caps, 360° cameras. Love the two-tone, but look at how they did the two-tone. So, you have your black A-pillar, black portion of your roof rails, but then the rest is red. So, I I like the way that they just blacked out the A-pillars, the roof rails, and then the rear portion here. It It kind of gives it a nice distinct look. You do have color match on the door handles. And like I said, this is a compact crossover SUV. Everything painted along the bottom. That’s why I’m a little bothered that they didn’t paint the fender openings. I wish they would have done that. Now, coming towards the rear of the vehicle, like I said, you do have the ability to charge this. You don’t have to. You could drive it just like a regular hybrid, but you won’t get the full benefit of this being a plug-in electric hybrid. That’s the the big difference. Coming around the rear, like I said, I like the way that they bring that trim in that rear pillar down towards the liftgate area. You’re going to have full LED lighting across the back. And then up top, you have a color match roof spoiler. My only zon is this guy right here. That needs to go up up up and away. Get rid of that wiper. But I love the LED lighting, the Nissan name. Nice, prominently displayed. And then you also have Rogue plug-in hybrid just so you could brag to all your friends. But I I like the fact that they spelled Nissan out in the back. I’m a fan of these brands getting rid of the single badge, just having the single badge on the front and then spelling things out on the back of the car. I just feel like there’s more room and it just I don’t know, to me it looks better. Let me know what you think about Nissan being spelled out on the back of this Rogue. And then of course we have our platinum badge. Bringing it down to ground level. What I like about the black that they’re using on the front and the back is that it does have a metallic tinge to it. So it’s not just a simple gloss black. It’s actually painted a metallic black, which is a nice finish. But why don’t we go ahead? Let’s get into the inside and see what this allnew Rogue is bringing for 2026. All right, guys. We are on the inside of this all-new 2026. This being the Rogue and this being the first ever plug-in electric hybrid version. Now, like I said, there’s this combination with Mitsubishi where they’re cooperating together. And this is one of those areas where I think you’re going to be impressed with what this interior brings. And I think a lot of it has to do with because they worked with Mitsubishi. Now, I know you’re saying to yourself, “Well, Joe, how much is this?” No official pricing yet. I’m gonna expect this to be right around 53 to50,000. So 50,000 to 53,000. That’s my estimate for this compact crossover SUV being a plug-in electric hybrid. But it’s not just about the MPG and the range. It’s also about what the interior brings. Let me show you to the door panels. Absolutely love the design. This is what I was talking about. Just like the Outlander. Look at the way they did the design. The nice soft touch. You got that diamond shaped stitching. Nice pleated soft touch on the armrest. I can do without the faux carbon fiber around the switch gear, but I’m glad it’s not gloss black. Up top, you do have two memory seat settings for the passenger and the driver. And then down below, you could easily get two double doubles from In-N-Out Burger and a Coke to wash it down. Now, going from the door panel to the dash, more of those nice soft touches, the stitching, you do have the upgraded sound system. And then, of course, more of that soft touch. Even on the side, the way they brought the contrast stitching, you got a little tiny cubby here where you could put a I would say probably two Nature Valley granola bars if you get a little bit of a snacky kind of mood. You want a little snack snack and then slide on in. You’re getting that nice large infotainment system. Full touch screen. Plus, you do have physical knobs, which is great. And you can go through all the different settings. We could hit menu. There’s our normal screen setup. You can check out the weather. It’s a little chilly here in LA, believe it or not. Get your fuel prices, all those different things. And then, of course, cameras. Look at the cameras. So, they really updated and upgraded the camera quality, the 360 control, nice wide view out the front. You can see somebody over there walking. He’s staring at us. I don’t know what the heck’s going on there. Let’s wrap this up soon so people don’t start poking at me. You do have a power on button because this is a plug-in hybrid. And then you do have your dual climate control down below. So, this is going to allow you to have perfect temperature for the passenger driver. Heated seats, but no ventilated seats. I don’t know what I got to do to get ventilated seats in a Rogue. Write to Nissan and let them know that you want ventilated seats. You do get a heated steering wheel, which is good. And then, of course, to turn it on and off, there’s all the digital readouts. I know Lori wants a little bit of air right now. USBC, USBA, 12vt. Oh, it’s getting like a tornado in here. Wireless charging. This is going to control your direct drive transmission. You do have your different modes. Lots of different modes, including hill descent, your power mode, all those things. It shows on the dash. I’ll show you that when you come to the business side. I don’t know why they put all this gloss black here. That’s a zon. Why didn’t they take this nice silver and bring it to the edge? I know why they did. It’s to cut down on cost, but this would have been just nicer to have it all the way over your pure EV. And then you do have what’s called EEP. No, that’s not a new dance over at your country uh dance bar. That is your regen braking. So, you do get regen braking. Two cup holders, your new Nissan key fob. That’s the new key fob. Soft touch with the stitching. Open it up. You have enough room in there to where you could put two World Series winning baseballs that you caught at the LA Dodgers game. And I know what you did. You snatched it from that little kid, didn’t you? You were one of those adults that goes to the games and you got to have the ball, right? You can’t let the kid have it. You can put your balls in there. My advice, keep your balls in there cuz somebody’s going to come and snatch them just like you snatched that ball from that little kid. seats, the nice leather, the stitching. Look at the way they do the the all of this work looks great. Electric assist for the passenger, electric assist of course for the driver, and then you got a big old panoramic sunroof with a power shade. So, they got you covered there. But why don’t you come over to the business end? I want to show you behind the wheel of this new Nissan Rogue Plugin. All right, guys. Business time. Behind the wheel of this first ever Rogue plug-in hybrid. Down below, you’ll notice that we have our power seat controls just like the p the passenger side. And you do have two memory seat settings. Seats are comfy. I love these seats. Lots of room in here. Steering wheel. It’s going to look familiar. It’s the same wheel out of the Outlander. Let’s just be honest. But Nissan did put a decent looking horn button. I do like all the flat black, easy to get to controls with your thumbs. I mean, look at this. It’s like thumb wrestling. And then you do have a little bit of silver trim. Now, there are paddles on the back of the wheel, and then you do have a manual tilting and telescoping wheel. And of course, the other big thing is that 12.3 in digital gauge cluster. Look at the modes. Look at the way they got the graphics there. It’s like freaking Forza 27 or Gran Turismo 38. There’s only one Gran Turismo I will play. That’s the original one. I’m I’m old school like that. But nice digital display with all the information you need and a and a HUD, a head-up display. But why don’t we go ahead? Let’s get in the back seat and see if this Rogue is going to bring the space you need. All right, guys. Back seat time. And what’s amazing about this Rogue is just like the Outlander, it’s a three row. So, you are getting quite a bit more when it comes to going the plug-in electric hybrid route. Not just the range, but also some extra seats just in case you need to drive somebody home that you weren’t expecting to. Now, you do have lots of pockets. We have the Twinkie notch right here. You can put two Twinkies up top. And then down below is where you could put all the traveling snacks, your Twizzlers, your uh Mike, your lemon heads, all those goodies. And then you do have your standard AC controls. I like the way they have the digital display. Three stages of heated seats, two U actually a USBC and a USBA. And then there’s a home power source all the way down there. So nice to see that. Seats, they do slide, believe it or not. That’s impressive. And do they recline? I don’t feel a recline. Let’s see if this does anything. Yes, they do recline just a little bit, but you got to reach over your shoulder, which is, as you can see, a little cumbersome. I do like the fact that you have manual sun shades so you don’t have to go to Walmart and get the uh pieces of Okay, this is funny. Watch this. There we go. The pieces of window tint and lick them and just stick it up there so that your kid doesn’t get sunburn in their face. Watch this center armrest, but obviously somebody cannot be sitting here. You got your two cup holders and like a captain’s chair arrangement. But I like the versatility there. This thing is very, very versatile. Great leather on the seats. And then watch this. We’re going to move this like that. And then Lori is going to show you get two jump seats. Now I’m not sitting back there cuz I’m not breaking my back. Lori’s not sitting back there, but maybe if you had somebody the size of an Ewok, that would be perfect for them. But those are jump seats for emergency only. I wouldn’t uh I wouldn’t even want to be paid to sit back there to be honest with you. No connectivity or anything. It’s just emergency emergency seats. But why don’t we go ahead? Let’s get in the cargo area and see what you could stuff in this long range Rogue. All right, guys. Cargo time. What’s nice is you just hit the button. Nice electric assist and it opens up really fast. One thing to point out is just how high the rear bumper is, just so you know. But the good news is once you get in, you’re in like Flynn. Look at the nice low cargo floor back here. It’s going to really free up some space. You do have a home power source, which is great. You have handles to fold down that mid row. See how that just dropped down so nicely. And then if you want to know what what do you got going on here? This is how you can reconfigure this. There’s lots of different ways to reconfigure this whole setup. Look at that. The seats are hidden. Magic seats. And you got the Bose sound system. The subwoofer underneath there to give you the thump dump dump. Watch this. Let’s see if it folds. Oh my god, look at all that room. I love it when a plan comes together. And then of course, we hit it. Hit it. And don’t quit. It comes down nicely. Now, I know you want to go for a first drive in this Rogue, especially because it is all new. First time ever, and especially because the Rogue is Nissan’s top selling vehicle here in the United States. Not time yet. We have a lot more work to do here at the LA Auto Show. But definitely want to thank the whole Nissan USA team for getting us access to this Rogue plug-in electric hybrid, especially the Platinum trim. Now, it’s your turn. Let them know what you think because they’re going to go through the comment section. Is this just a rebadge to you or does it have some really good specific touches that you think are worthy of that upcoming price? Let me know in that comment section. But if you’re new to the channel, you’re on your way out. Hit the subscribe button. I promise you it’s worthwhile. Come back for more. If you are a subscriber, thank you for being part of the race family. Got to give it up to Latte Lori. Listen, she makes the magic happen. Show her some love in the comment section because she busts her butt out here on the show floor. So, thank you Lori for all that you do. And just like always guys, I’ll see you on the next ride.
FIRST LOOK: The Rogue PHEV is here for 2026 from Nissan. Is the 2026 Nissan Rogue PHEV MORE than a rebadged Mitsubishi Outlander?
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