Nissan Motor Co. has unveiled a new hybrid-electric drive system called e-POWER that's based on electric vehicle technology used in the Nissan LEAF, the company announced.

Nissan is offering the system as part of its electrification approach in the Nissan Intelligent Mobility plan. The system adds a small gasoline engine to charge a high-output battery that eliminates the need for an external charger. The engine isn't connected to the wheels as in a traditional hybrid system,

The e-POWER system uses a much smaller battery than the LEAF but delivers an equivalent EV driving experiance, according to Nissan. The system uses a 30 kWh battery compared to the 1.5 kWh battery that powers the LEAF.