You’ll be forgiven for not knowing Nissan sold a Rogue Hybrid. It came and went without much fanfare. Nissan doesn’t even have a photograph of the Rogue Hybrid available on its press site. The picture included above is actually a non-hybrid Rogue SL. You didn’t even notice, did you? That’s how little attention was paid to the lowly Hybrid model.
The Rogue Hybrid was introduced to the market in January of 2017. Because of the space taken up by the lithium batteries, the Rogue Hybrid was not available with third row seats or folding rears. On top of that, the hybrid version carried a $2800 premium, but only offered 5 mpg better than the non-hybrid version, which doesn’t translate to much cash savings at the pump.
When the Rogue Hybrid didn’t show up on 2020 Nissan pricing lists, Autoblog threw up a red flag and checked in with Nissan to find out why. Nissan spokesperson Kevin Raftery told Autoblog, “Nissan will not offer the Rogue Hybrid for model year 2020. We will continue to focus efforts on the best-selling Rogue and new 2020 Rogue Sport.”
While I lament the loss of hybrid options from the marketplace, I can’t say that the Rogue was the best option in its competitive set. With a new Rav4 Hybrid, which is excellent by all accounts, and the upcoming Ford Escape PHEV looming on the horizon, the Rogue Hybrid’s death is not much to cry over.
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If you really had your heart set on a 2019 Rogue Hybrid, you’ll still have time to get one, as they appear to be sitting on dealer lots for a while before selling. Maybe, now that it’s dead, the price will come down to a more reasonable delta between hybrid and basic Rogues. Especially as the continuing 2020 Rogue models get a couple hundred dollar price hike.
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