It has been on, then off, and now it’s on again for Nissan’s Ariya here in New Zealand. And that’s largely because of what’s been happening locally and globally on the EV sales front.
Ariya, Nissan’s second major EV, launched midway through 2022 overseas. It would have debuted earlier but for the chip shortage.
Now that it has officially gone on sale here, is it a case that the game has moved on?
After a lengthy delay and pretty much an annus horribilis for EVs last year, Nissan recently declared the Ariya on sale locally. Why now, when things are still fragile for EVs? Perhaps because Nissan needs clean car credits to offset some of its higher emitting models, like Navara. And it won’t be getting any from Leaf any more because that has now sold out.
Well yes, because Nissan won’t sell any otherwise. Most purveyors of EVs here are having to discount to clear excess stock or just to sell the things that were so popular under a Labour government. Not helping is a coalition government that seems to have it in for EVs, perhaps because they use electricity and draw attention to the fact that our power infrastructure desperately needs investment.
And so Ariya goes on sale at a time when it’s still not good to be an EV seller. In 2023, they comprised 20 per cent of new car sales. Last year, it was more like five per cent.
So yes, Ariya arrives with discounted pricing. The model you see here, the top Evolve AWD variant with an 87kWh battery pack and dual motors, is selling for $89,990. The price they’d prefer to sell it at is $109,900.
It’s a similar situation for the other two models with 63kWh batteries and FWD, the entry Engage variant listing for $76,990 but on sale straight away at $59,990. The Engage model goes up against the likes of ID.4 which is similar in price, size and motive power. However, the VW has a bigger battery, more range and is rear-wheel drive. Moreover, there’s a $5k cashback on that so it’s even less expensive.
So to our range topper then, the Evolve AWD with dual motors. There’s system power of 290kW and 600Nm so this can hike, despite its kerb weight of just over two tonnes. Not that the Nissan website is especially helpful on key details like this. Under ‘weight’, there’s towing info (750-1500kg). Under ‘performance’ it says there are four drive modes. Not useful stuff like 0-100 (which evidently takes 5.1sec). And worst of all, under ‘consumption’ it mentions zero grammes of CO2 per km. Energy use might have been nice.
But then it is subject to so many different variables, like ambient temperature, not that extremes of either are all that relevant for Kiwis. Well, not for Aucklanders at any rate. And whether you drive it mainly in the burbs or in the boonies. Our out-of-town sorties saw energy use in the mid20s. On flat motorway sections it will be somewhat less, high teens at best. Still, count on above 20s as the average out-of-town. And that means a battery range of around 400km if you’re doing mainly open road work. Mixed town and motorway running you’re likely to see closer to 500 and Nissan reckons on 497km so there you go. The others are rated at 400km.
Being a big battery it took 24 hours of three-pin charging to rezip it from 44 to 84 per cent. On a DC 130kW charger you’re looking more like 30min for 10-80 per cent with the 87kWh battery.
Anyhow, backing the bus up, we checked out Ariya roughly a year ago, a UK model. Back then we thought it looked quite interesting, and it still does, especially on the outside.
A lot has changed in the interim, even just in a year. Nowadays, the IFT screens do all the major control work. So it was kind of refreshing returning to a car from a time when the IFT screen did just that (radio, and phone duties in the main) and the rest of the adjustments were made in the driver instrument area.
But actually that’s almost as annoying as the all-controlling screens in that there are things you have to scroll through and then submenus to burrow in, and it’s nearly as distracting. However, you turn off certain things and they stay off which is nice. And there’s none of the incessant bonging of which the Chinese car makers are so fond.
The HVAC controls are interesting too, down below the not-very-big IFT screen and with haptic-like touch controls. They work okay, by either brushing or clicking them. Behind this is the centre console which is movable fore and aft. Novel. Push it right back and there’s this big open flat space beneath. It’s just so weird to behold; you can comment on your partner’s footwear though perhaps best not to do that.
Shuffle the centre console right forward if their shoes are garish and you have a comfy place to brace your left knee, nice when the going gets more interesting. Though your front seat friend might notice you moving the centre console and suggest you’d better not be doing what she thinks you’re about to do. Which is to ‘press on’ when maybe you shouldn’t.
But you kind of can in this. Despite it weighing in at over two tonnes it can hustle along. In the hills it’s a bit hefty and understeery compared with some more modern offerings. And its steering is digital, too light, with artificial weighting and not much feel. But its turning circle is notably tight.
It also has nice enough balance in the way the most EVs do with a roughly even front/rear split. Ride quality is pretty decent, perhaps a tich overdamped though, high frequency bumps not quite diffused sufficiently.
It goes well enough longitudinally, but isn’t special there either. In Sport mode where there’s more regen we managed one 0-100 run on perfect seal at just a hair under 5sec but 5.3 was the average. It doesn’t start off with a huge hiss and a roar – it never does the latter – but the acceleration builds well. And that’s especially evident on overtakes which were consistently around 2.85sec. We weren’t expecting big things on the braking front so the first of 36.75m from 100-zero seemed about right. But then we switched on the e-pedal button just to see if that had any effect. In single-pedal driving mode, the emergency stop improved to 33.2m. How about that! Could have been a fluke of course. We never had a chance to recheck. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. E-pedal driving to my mind is a bit OTT, but the B mode is excellent for regen, the alternative to D mode on the shifter.
As to fitout, this has a head-up display, a ProPilot adaptive cruise system for the motorway, a whole mess of unlined bins, traffic sign recognition, a speed limiter, a Bose sound system and seats that remind of Mercedes in the way they’re stitched and finished. They are also heated and cooled, while there’s a hot wheel, a powered fifth door, a panoramic glass roof, and a 1500kg tow rating. Not that that will do great things for range of course. Luggage cap is average at 466L.
And perhaps that’s the thing about Ariya. It was a bit spesh back when it first launched overseas. But three years is a long time in the EV world. And there’s been a Chinese car invasion in the interim with stuff at least as good for less of an outlay. Let’s hope new Leaf arrives in more timely fashion and that the woes affecting Nissan at present are just a temporary glitch.
Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD
$89,990 / 18.7kWh/100km / 0g/km
0-100 km/h 4.98s
80-120 km/h 2.85 (81m)
100-0 km/h 33.20m
Speedo error 96 at an indicated 100km/h
Ambient cabin noise 69.3dB@100km/h
Motor output 290kW
Max torque 600Nm
Battery 87kWh
Range 497km
Drivetrain Single-speed auto / AWD
Front suspension Mac strut / sway bar
Rear suspension Multilink / sway bar
Turning circle 11.6m (2.4 turns)
Front brakes Ventilated discs
Rear brakes Discs
Stability systems ABS, ESP
Safety AEB, ACC, BSM, LDW, RCTA, ALK, AHB
Tyre size 255/45R20
Wheelbase 2775mm
L/W/H 4595 / 1850 / 1660mm
Track f-1626mm r-1629mm
Luggage capacity 466-1280L
Tow rating 750kg (1500kg braked)
Service intervals 24 months / 25,000km
Warranty 5yrs / 150,000 km
ANCAP rating (2022)
Weight (claimed) 2269kg
