Nissan Ariya comes cleverly packaged with style, space, comfort, luxury, and performance
The success of an electric SUV is largely linked to its look and feel. Realistic design, comfortable cabin and pleasing driving dynamics of a regular SUV are what a customer expects when he or she decides to shift to the world of electric vehicles. Thus, a sense of familiarity keeps the customer comfortable initially with the product. Nissan Ariya, the company’s second full-fledged electric car after the Leaf, is such a crossover that does not appear weird at the first sight.
The car is available for orders in the United States with prices starting at $44,485 for the FWD version which will followed by the AWD e-force variant in early 2023.
The Nissan Ariya is 17cm longer, 1.5cm wider and 3cm taller than the Qashqai. With a sleek and modern design, the curves are gently flowing in contrast to the sharply defined edges. Three teensy LED elements define its headlamps, and the daytime running lights flows smoothly down along the sides of the grille.
Nissan Ariya Comes Packed with New-Age Features
While Ariya has a well slopping fastback roofline, a full-width blackout panel on the rear houses the ‘Light Blade’ tail lamps. Inside the Ariya, you get a totally flat floor and an open footwell between the driver and passenger. The soft-white ambient lighting, especially an illuminated square on the lower center section of the firewall reinforces the interior space.
Behind the two-spoke steering wheel, you can see the 12.0-inch digital instrument cluster, along with an identically sized infotainment touchscreen called ‘monolith’ featuring a reconfigurable gauge display which is clean, simple, and easy to operate. The swipe function for the center screen can send whatever is being displayed to the gauge cluster.
Ariya gets an updated Nissan ProPilot Assist 2.0 driving aid, as standard on the top two trims only. This Level 2 driver-assistance suite supports hands-free operation on. The system has stored 200,000 miles of pre-mapped roadways in the US.
Ariya is tuned to behave like a gas car with the acceleration characteristics of Rogue. There is no rush of instant torque like that of an EV and speed builds gradually. The estimated 0-to-60-mph speed is achieved in 7.2-seconds by the single-motor, FWD Ariya. The Two battery sizes offered are 66-kilowatt-hour (63 kWh usable) pack that is only available on the base trim, while all others upgrade to a larger 91-kWh (87 kWh usable) battery.
The smaller setup offers 214 horsepower while the bigger one gives an output of 238 hp, though both are rated at 221 pound-feet of torque. Each battery can handle DC charging speeds of up to 130 kW. With front-wheel drive, the 66-kWh Ariya will travel 216 miles while the 91-kWh variant will do 304.
An Innovative Contender in the eSUV space
The ‘e-pedal’ accelerator and regenerative braking enables the vehicle for easy one-pedal driving. Energy regeneration is done automatically by this system depending on your speed and traffic condition. You can switch off the e-pedal and drive in the traditional two-pedal mode which is softer in feel. There are no paddle shifters on the steering-wheel for the adjustment of brake energy regeneration.
The Nissan Ariya competes in the market with the Tesla Model Y, Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and the Kia EV6, all of them raises stiff challenges. The global market for family-sized electric vehicles is developing fast, and the Nissan Ariya, no doubt can claim to be an innovative contender. The electric car comes cleverly packaged with style, space, comfort, luxury, and performance. What more do you want?
Read all our stories on electric cars from around the world here.
