Nissan Ariya review

Overview

What is it?

An electric crossover. It’s a bit sportier to drive than some of them, but really you’ll be drawn to it, or repelled by it, because of its looks. Nissan has gone big on the idea of a clear and simple Japanese design identity. Inside as well as out.

Nissan made a bold early start with electric cars. The Leaf has been around for well over a decade, got the world used to the idea of an affordable realistic EV, and has sold well over half a million. And then… a whole lot of not much.

Still, the Ariya is a big step ahead from the Leaf. The Ariya has an all-new EV platform. Unlike the Leaf it has liquid cooling of the batteries, meaning much faster charging without toasting itself. To take advantage, it has a CCS connector so it has access to higher-power chargers. It switches to all-coil motors, for better high-speed efficiency and freedom from rare-earth metals.

The same entrails also (on a shorter wheelbase) carry the Renault Megane. And next year they’ll be put to use again as the new Leaf, previewed last year by a concept called Chill Out. Well, the Leaf never was too exciting.

The Ariya is about the size of the Tesla Model Y or VW Group’s ID.4, Enyaq and Q4 e-Tron mob, or the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Volvo C40 Recharge. But not as wide as some of those, which helps in narrow roads. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is bigger but barely more expensive. Oh.

We’re obliged to stress that the car we drove is a late prototype, with the smaller of the two battery options and single-motor drive. This review will be updated when we’ve driven full-production samples and other models.

What’s the range?

Range means two things so we’ll answer both. The range as in ‘line-up of versions’ starts with a front-drive 217bhp job with a 63kWh battery. Next, the same with an 87kWh battery, which passes higher current so allows a 242bhp motor output. But because it has a heavier battery the performance is almost exactly the same, seven and a half seconds to 62mph.

You can also have the bigger battery with AWD, a torque vectored system called e-4ORCE which none of us will ever remember how to spell. That has two available outputs, 306bhp and 394bhp, the last of which does 0-62mph in 5.1secs. Those battery capacities are usable, net, figures.

So with various trim options that gives a price spread of £41,845 to £58,440.

The other meaning of range, the WLTP measured distance from charged-up to grinding-to-a-halt, is about 250 miles for the smaller battery, and 315 miles for the bigger with FWD. Adding 4WD cuts a few miles off that.

The fastest motors lose even more range, down to little more than 255 miles with the big battery. All these numbers are provisional as it’s still a prototype, but won’t vary much.

What is this Japanese design of which you speak?

On the outside, it’s simple, with few folds, creases or slashes. Just one really, a ‘horizon line’, a subtle crease that circumnavigates the car, beginning below the ultra-shallow LED headlights, back along the sides and around above the single-strip rear lights. The sides themselves are hollow, which perhaps makes it look a little gawky. Proportions are good though: wheels at the corners.

At the front a plastic panel houses the sensors, with an ancient Japanese kumiko woodworking pattern, which allows the beams to pass through.

Inside, it’s wonderfully reduced. The main novelty is that switchgear symbols shine through the wood veneer. Well it would be a novelty but the Ariya came on sale late and the BMW iX beat it.

And to drive?

Nissan says the high-power one, with its torque vectoring, has genes of a GT-R. Like a macaque has genes of a Top Gear car reviewer we suspect.

But anyway, this is a coupe-crossover so it’s supposed to drive sportily. And on the basis of the front-driver, it certainly has more pep than some of its lumbering rivals, changing direction with moderate enthusiasm.

You pay in a slightly firm ride, but that’s OK. Less OK is its tendency to clang noisily into sharp ridges and potholes. Still, the suspension and tyres are quiet at a cruise.

The Ariya’s misfortune is to have arrived nearly a year later than planned, on account of the global microchip shortage. So it doesn’t really bring much in the way of new tech.

Neither is it conspicuously good value by the simple EV ratio of range versus sticker price. But at least it’s well equipped. Especially with the stuff EV buyers don’t know they need until they don’t have it – a heat pump, heated seats and steering wheel.

Likely there will be people who have been waiting for the Ariya because they trust Nissan as an EV maker, and want a piece of the Leaf’s unimpeachable reliability.

We’re now at the point where there’s plenty of choice in electric crossovers, and it becomes a design and styling play. If you like the look of the Nissan, and especially its interior, go right ahead.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

We were in the cheapest powertrain – small battery, front-driven. It means acceleration that’s less in absolute terms than say a 2.0-litre non-sporty petrol crossover, but the point is as with any EV it’s always there for you. No waiting for turbo-boost or down-shift. So it’s adequate unless you’re being ambitious up hills.

The brake pedal is nice and progressive, the regeneration and friction blending seamlessly. You can also switch to e-pedal drive, Nissan’s system where lifting off the accelerator will bring in the friction if there’s not enough regen. It’s relaxing in town driving, as you don’t have to shuffle your foot.

That means better range, right?

Nope. As with any other EV, neither max regeneration nor e-pedal will give you any more miles to play with: they’re just different ways of accessing the same retardation. Even in coasting mode, pressing the brake pedal starts by giving regen, and then when that’s used up it brings the pads onto the discs.

The steering is progressively weighted in the normal drive mode, and accurate. Sports mode has an inconsistent weighting. Neither has any feel for the tyre grip, but that’s par for this kind of car.

Still, there’s good traction and it resists understeer unless you heave it into a tight bend, where you suddenly feel the Ariya’s mass. In faster corners it’s got quite a nice neutral feel. On a motorway it sits stable and true.

The bigger-battery one can tow a 1,500kg braked trailer, which is unusual for an EV. Can’t imagine what that does to your range, mind.

Noted. Is it comfy?

The ride is quite like Qashqai’s: fairly taut, with a bit of high-frequency spring. It copes well with most undulations, and the tyres are normally quiet. But it doesn’t like sharp ridges or potholes.

Nissan pioneered level 2 driver assist with the Propilot system, and it’s fitted as standard. Works well, keeping the car in lane and following the vehicle in front. New tweaks include capacitive sensors in the steering wheel so it knows your hands are on – no need to give a little “I’m here” twitch every 15 seconds or so.

That’s a relief.

Indeed. Also the steering assistance is calibrated more naturally: if you’re in the middle lane overtaking a truck, it will move slightly to the right to keep further away from the truck. The car will slow down when the navigation knows a sharper curve is coming up.

Talking of long journeys the DC intake is a reasonably brisk 130kW, well able to take advantage of 150kW chargers.

The base car charges at 7kW on home AC or public points, which means flat to full overnight. But you’d never go quite flat. With the bigger battery that will take 13 hours. And anyway the big battery also comes with a 22kW on-board charger, cutting it to about four hours on a public three-phase AC socket, increasingly common in car parks.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

The dash is a simple affair, a layered cake. Big screens stand proud. They rest on a band of cloth, and below are a line of vents, and below that the veneer that carries climate switchgear. The whole thing is slim, architectural and high-quality.

These switches, and some others on the centre console, are the ones lit through the veneer. They give a little haptic click when your finger presses. It’s much easier than a touchscreen. Not that there’s much wrong with the Ariya’s screen. It’s big and versatile.

A big HUD – available on all, but an option on the base model, augments the driver screen.

Between the front seats is a console/armrest that slides back and forth under motor power. It holds lots of stuff, but can wobble a bit if you hit a bump half-way round a bend. There’s another glovebox-type drawer below the central screen. It too opens by motor propulsion. So, loads of storage all in.

In front of that is a flat floor. It makes the place seem roomy, but lets junk lying in the passenger footwell slither across to the right in a briskly taken left-hander, ending up among the pedals.

Acres of back-seat room for three people comes courtesy of the long wheelbase and flat floor. The boot is big in area, and has useful underfloor space in the FWD version. Mind you the charge cable will be there, because there’s no frunk.

Buying

What should I be paying?

The Ariya seems pricey but it doesn’t come as a stripped-out version. Even the ‘base’ model gets LEDs, 19in wheels, all-round park cameras, ProPilot, heat pump, heated seats and steering wheel and windscreen, the haptic switchgear and big screens, full connectivity and OTA updates. The trim, called Advance, comes with the 63kWh battery for £41,845.

Next trim is Evolve, which adds Bose, the HUD and a glass roof. 22kW three-phase AC comes only with the 87kWh pack, in either 2WD or 4WD form – £51,090 or £53,790. Given the latter takes you over 300bhp and adds torque-vectoring 4WD it seems like a bargain, but it does cost a few miles of range.

Nissan expects the FWD Evolve to sell best. It’s what we’d have. The dealers are doing a £629/month three-year PCP with £6,616 deposit for 10k miles a year.

Finally the Performance one is £58,440. It has 394bhp, 440lb ft and probably more than enough poke for a family crossover. We’ll wait til we’ve driven it to see whether it can make good use of the urge.

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