Nissan’s ATTESA or Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain is famous for its application in the GT-R supercar among others. Well, the Japanese automaker just showed off its most direct successor and its name? e-4ORCE.

Showed off in a prototype Nissan Leaf in Japan last year, e-4ORCE provides instant torque to all four wheels to deliver balanced, predictable power, and handling on par with many premium sports cars.

The “e” represents Nissan’s technologies enabled by a 100 percent electric motor drive system. “4ORCE,” pronounced “force,” evokes physical power and energy with “4” standing for the all-wheel control driving capability.

The technology was born from lessons learned in the development of the Nissan GT-R's ATTESA E-TS torque split system and the Nissan Patrol's intelligent 4X4 system. Engineers developed the e-4ORCE technology to specifically manage electric vehicle power output and braking performance to be smooth and stable.

Unparalleled ride comfort is the result of the e-4ORCE technology’s ability to minimize vehicle pitch and dive. This is accomplished by employing regenerative braking from both front and rear motors, making city stop-and-go traffic less jostling. Similarly, on rough, bumpy roads and when accelerating, motor control is optimized to maintain ride comfort by minimizing irregular movement.

e-4ORCE increases driver confidence by faithfully tracing the driver's intended line thanks to ultra-high-precision motor and brake control. With the confidence to handle such a variety of road surfaces, even for novice drivers on slippery surfaces, driving becomes more enjoyable.

The first vehicle that’ll benefit from e-4ORCE will be on the production version of Nissan’s zero-emissions crossover, the Ariya which was already shown in concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show last year.