First Drive: The Nissan Ariya is a sleek, premium and high-quality electric SUV
Nissan is growing its electric car line-up with its new Ariya. Ted Welford gets behind the wheel to see what it’s like.
What is it?
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If there are two areas where Nissan has more experience than most, it’s building electric cars and crossovers. Launching the Qashqai as the first true ‘crossover’ in 2007 and the Leaf as the first mass-market EV in 2010, both have proven very lucrative.
So it’s almost strange that Nissan has taken so long to combine the two and create an electric SUV. But the moment has finally come with the Ariya, which will shortly be reaching dealers – a full two years after it was first revealed. We’ve been to Stockholm to try it out and see if has been worth the wait.
What’s new?
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When it was first shown, the Ariya had little in the way of competition, but two years is a long time in the EV segment, and this Nissan now has a fight on its hands next to rivals like the VW ID.4 and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Nissan has done plenty to the Ariya to make it stand out, though, building it around a new EV-only platform, giving it a more premium look inside and out and kitting out with a range of new powertrains – virtually nothing is shared with the Leaf.
What’s under the bonnet?
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There are three powertrains on offer with the Ariya – a smaller battery car, big battery model and a powerful four-wheel-drive version.
