Nissan Serena edges towards autonomous driving, one lane at a time

SINGAPORE – For a country known to be obsessed with robotics and technology, Japan seems far from the bleeding edge of automotive technologies these days.

When it comes to electrification and autonomous driving, its carmakers seem to be in no hurry to match whatever is coming out from China or Europe.

Instead, as the updated Nissan Serena shows, Japanese carmakers prefer to quietly evolve their offerings, holding back until the technologies are thoroughly proven.

The Serena has just been updated for 2026.

On the outside, the most obvious visual change is the front-end design. The oversized radiator grille now consists of angular lines arranged to form a V below the Nissan emblem, rather than the horizontally orientated layout before. The design is also applied to the alloy wheels.

The exterior colour choices have been refreshed with new options. This includes the sparkly brown shade on the test car, two shades of blue and a fourth one called Aqua Mint.

New in the car is the appearance of a blue button on the steering wheel. This activates the ProPilot Assist 1.0, which is a “semi-autonomous” driver assistance system. The Serena is the first official imported Nissan to have this feature.

As you can guess from the name, Nissan already has a more advanced version of the technology available. Elsewhere in the world, it offers the ProPilot Assist 2.0, which allows hands-free driving on the expressway, while the 1.0 system in Singapore requires the driver’s hands to be holding the wheel.

This is essentially a more evolved version of assistance systems already found on the earlier Serena. Besides existing features like lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control, and blind spot detection and intervention, the system also keeps the car in the middle of lane.

These are hardly groundbreaking automotive technologies, but Nissan seems to have honed its version of these features to work properly.

Under local driving conditions, the adaptive cruise control maintains the following distance like a pro. It tends to take its time to accelerate if the car ahead suddenly speeds up, but the driver can override this quite easily.

If the car ahead slows down to a complete halt at a junction for more than a few seconds, the Serena will not follow when the car moves off. Instead, the driver needs to tap the accelerator for the adaptive cruise control to resume.

The car can steer itself smoothly when the road curves as one continuous arc. In some rival systems, the car has a tendency to hunt for the line and break the manoeuvre into a series of abrupt corrections.

ProPilot works at night too. As it does not rain on the nights during the test drive, it is not possible to verify how it performs when visibility is poor – something such systems tend to struggle with.

The all-round camera system has also been upgraded to provide a sharper video feed, along with offering the kerb-side view for both sides of the car and a three-dimensional view, complementing the proximity sensors.

Rather unfortunately, the video feed fails on the second day of the test drive. This is after the car is taken back for the installation of the on-board unit for electronic road pricing.

However, a day of driving later, the system springs back to life and does not give any trouble for the rest of the test drive.

Driving with the video feed out of action proves to be no real hardship. The car’s boxy dimensions and commanding sitting position make it easy to judge its extremities in the way drivers have all been taught – through the windscreen, windows and mirrors.

The tight turning radius makes short work of U-turns and tricky parallel parking moves.

Standing at 1,870mm, the Nissan is taller than rivals like the Honda Step Wgn and the Toyota Noah, which are both over the 1.8m mark. While this makes it easier to get in and out of the car, the height can be an issue when it comes to getting into older multi-storey carparks.

Mechanically, the Serena has not changed. This means it has a 1.4-litre engine that is used exclusively to charge the car’s battery, which powers the electric motor driving the front wheels. This makes the car feel a little like an electric vehicle, with instantaneous torque.

The engine kicks in to charge it up often. Even though the transition is smooth, you can always hear the three-cylinder engine firing up and the noise level rises with speed. This means that the cabin is rarely as serene as a true electric car.

The relatively small engine capacity translates to a smaller road tax bill for the Nissan than its rivals. At $940 a year, it undercuts the 1.8-litre Toyota Noah’s $976 and the 2-litre Honda Step Wgn’s $1,204.

Fuel consumption is acceptable by class standards, if not outstanding. Over the multi-day test drive, the car posts an average fuel consumption rate of 7.1 litres/100km. This is some way from the claimed 5.2 litres/100km, but should still be good for over 700km.

As expected of a mid-sized Japanese multi-seater in this segment, the Serena’s cabin is spacious enough to accommodate grown-ups, even in the third row. Air-conditioning vents at the rear of the cabin ensure that everyone is comfortable.

While the Nissan agent has tried to uplift the Serena’s cabin with locally fitted leather upholstery, the interior feels more functional and robust than luxurious and indulgent.

I particularly appreciate how the rear windscreen can be opened to access the boot, instead of having to open the very large hatch, which is not always possible in Singapore’s carparks.

The real edge that the Serena has over the likes of seven-seaters like the Noah and the Step Wgn, though, is the option to offer seating for eight. Costing $4,000 more than the seven-seat version, the additional seat is a cushion that fills the gap between the individual chairs in the second row.

Having space for an eighth occupant may not seem quite as exciting or innovative as the car being able to drive itself down the Pan-Island Expressway or having an enormous battery that can cover 1,000km, but it is a feature that some large families really need.

Nissan Serena e-Power Highway Star Smart 8

Price: $277,800 with certificate of entitlement (COE) before applicable discounts
Motor: AC synchronous
Power: 120kW
Torque: 315Nm
Engine generator: 1,433cc, 12-valve, inline-3
Transmission: Single-speed
0-100kmh: 10.3 seconds
Top speed: 150kmh
Fuel consumption: 5.2 litres/100km
Agent: Tan Chong Motor Sales
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Comparable considerations

Toyota Noah Elegance 1.8L ($260,888 with COE before applicable discounts)

Arguably a more important car for Toyota than the Corolla Altis, the Noah is a solid seven-seater. Spacious and fuel-efficient, it is Toyota at its best.

Honda Step Wgn 2.0L Spada ($256,999 with COE before applicable discounts)

Larger overall than the Nissan Serena, the Step Wgn is the slightly more premium option. The Honda’s third-row seats fold into the floor when not needed, which is a more space-efficient solution than the Nissan’s, where the folded seats are secured to the sides of the car, reducing width.

Maxus Mifa 7 Elite ($256,999 with COE before applicable discounts)

The electric Mifa 7 is half a size bigger than the Japanese mid-sized multi-seater and the driver will feel it from behind the wheel. Passengers will enjoy the large and well-cushioned seats. The cabin is less flexible though, as the third-row bench does not fold flat.