Nissan beats world's fuel efficiency record with N6 hybrid as it teases $4,000 Tesla FSD competitor

Nissan, an electric vehicle pioneer with the inaugural Leaf, has managed to beat the world's fuel efficiency record with its new N6 hybrid sedan developed in partnership with Dongfeng.

Yes, the Dongfeng that just unveiled the world's most frugal Mach 1.5T gas engine for hybrid vehicles with thermal efficiency surpassing 48%.

The N6 plug-in hybrid is Nissan's first for the local market and is built on the jointly developed Tianyan Architecture of the Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFN) for "new energy vehicles," or EVs and plug-in hybrids.

Most fuel-efficient car in Guinness Book

The Nissan N6 drove 14,000 km (8,750 miles), consuming only 2.9 l/100 km, or registering fuel economy of about 81 miles per gallon. As can be expected, the terrain and weather conditions varied tremendously during the long trip, but this was the average consumption for the duration, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The frugal propulsion was achieved with a hybrid powertrain powered by one of the world's most efficient gas engines and a 21 kWh LFP battery that comes with fast 20-minute charging. The tandem helped Nissan N6 become the first hybrid in its premium family sedan category to notch fuel consumption under 2 l/100 km in charge-sustaining mode, too, while Nissan says that the car's running costs per year are just $280.

The so-called EREVs, or EVs with extended range, have become a hit in China, as they offer the best of both worlds, with generous range on battery power alone and a gas engine for long road trips. Even Xiaomi, which started with electric cars just two years ago and is already profitable, has filed for fuel indicator gauges, hinting at its hybrid EREV future.

Nissan's $4,000 Tesla FSD competitor

Nissan is an early investor in self-driving startup Wayve, along with Nvidia, which recently poured $500 million into the company, impressed by its vision-only technology that it says can match Tesla's FSD.

According to Nvidia's Jensen Huang, this is "the next trillion-dollar company," and Nissan's vehicles with the ProPilot self-driving option based on Wayve's technology will be coming in 2027. Nissan says that it will then offer the Tesla FSD competitor at half price, or $4,000.

Rivian, on the other hand, just unveiled a $50/month subscription for its Autonomy+ self-driving feature that it says aims to achieve Level 4 autonomy like Tesla's unsupervised FSD. It is helped by a custom AI chip and 11 cameras coming to the R2 in 2026.

Tesla and Waymo have a big head start in self-driving technology and commercialization, but the competition is heating up, and if that leads to lower FSD prices and higher driver-assist technology adoption, the roads would become much safer.

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