Nissan is taking the first concrete steps to electrify the world by announcing that its e-POWER drivetrain will now be made available outside of its home market of Japan for the first time.

The Nissan e-POWER system differs from traditional hybrids or purely electric vehicles in that the system uses the gasoline engine solely as a power generator. This is then connected to an inverter, a battery, and an electric motor which drives the wheels.

Europe is destined to be Nissan’s first overseas market for e-POWER which is vital to the carmaker’s plan to increase the sales of its electrified vehicles by five-fold, double the market average. It’ll join the Leaf and the Leaf+ which are already Europe’s best-selling electric vehicle.

Currently, e-POWER is available in the Note sub-compact hatchback and Serena MPV in Japan. More than 70 percent of Note sales there and almost half of Serena sales are e-POWER version. The Note is actually Japan’s best-selling car last year, besting the Toyota Prius.

For developing markets such as the Philippines, with no EV charging infrastructure in place, e-POWER is seen as a potential stop-gap to a fully electric future. This is something shared by both Daniele Schillaci, Executive Vice-President for Global Marketing and Sales, Zero Emission Vehicle and Battery Business and Ramesh Narasimhan, President of Nissan Philippines.