Previously, we’ve looked at the Ariya, Nissan’s all-new and highly crucial first assault into the EV market. Arguably, Nissan pioneered this genre with the Nissan Leaf, the first big foray by any automaker to create an attainable, mass-market, practical, and usable electric car. Since then, while its competitors have been starting to take some of the Leaf’s market share, Nissan’s Ariya proves that the brand’s not keen on sitting out.
It’s a bold statement – a practical family SUV built on a bespoke architecture, featuring all the new shiny things that Nissan would soon trickle down onto its future EVs. And, from my previous experience, its Ariya has proven itself to be a highly compelling, unique, and fantastic all-around EV. But this time around, it’s time that we look at the top-spec, high-performance trim, the e-4ORCE, now featuring dual motors.
What Is The Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE Evolve About?
Design-wise, it’s no different than the Nissan Ariya that I drove last year at its launch, and I still like how it looks. It’s a striking bit of design, with a mix of futuristic cyberpunk flavours melded with softer and more traditional Japanese aesthetics. It’s just that right blend of design being modern, contemporary, and future-forward, but without looking insane or gimmicky. And, it pairs well with this Akatsuki Copper gold-bronze paint.
You’ll probably like the Nissan Ariya’s looks more once you notice all the little details… Like just how slim those headlights are, or how they’ve made the alloy wheel covers aerodynamic. Or, you may even notice the sort of textured glass that adorns where the front grille used to be. It’s definitely a handsome-looking car that’ll turn heads wherever you go. But, how does the Ariya actually drive in the real world?
How Does It Drive?
The Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE features a total power output of a respectable 306PS (or around 302bhp). And, with another 600Nm of electrified torque. This should be enough for a 0-62mph time of 5.7 seconds, and onto a top speed of 124mph. In practice, the Ariya pulls hard from a standing start, not at all keen on breaking traction when coupled with the factory-fit Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 tyres on 20-inch alloys.
Between the Nissan Ariya’s dual electric motors front and rear, they work in conjunction to form a good all-wheel-drive setup. When chucking it into a corner, it grips shockingly well for its size that weighs in at about 2 tons. Just like most other cars today, the Ariya has numerous drive modes where you could configure the car to drive just how you’d want it to, particularly Sport, Comfort, and Eco.
All of those drive modes have their own unique driving characteristic, and they do feel distinct from one another. Eco mode, in particular, has a handy coasting system, where it’s designed to maintain maximum momentum as much as possible without losing speed. So, when taking your foot off the accelerator, the Ariya loses speed very gradually and gently to improve efficiency and smooth out power delivery.
Meanwhile, Comfort mode is the mode that you’d want to be using most of the time. It’s the best of both worlds – responsive and performant enough when you need it. But, it’s otherwise designed to deliver that optimal level of quietness and serenity behind the wheel. Furthermore, some added optimisations to gain you a good EV range and powertrain efficiency, as well. Finally, there’s the Ariya’s Sport mode.
In this mode, it’s actually a good bit of fun, with enhanced responsiveness, making the Nissan Ariya even faster from a standstill. That is arguably the best way to experience the Ariya’s soothing synthetic motor whine, which is almost spaceship-like in sound. For us car enthusiasts, you’d be surprised at just how much fun you can get from the Ariya, being the two cardinal sins for any purist – it’s an EV, and an SUV.
Yet, you could indeed enjoy some exuberant driving, and this Ariya’s probably sportier and faster than it needed to be. But, for more regular, day-to-day driving that we’d mostly have to deal with during all our daily commutes, the Ariya is certainly better suited for this environment. It’s quiet, with minimal tire roar or wind noise seeping into the cabin. And, the superbly-sprung suspension setup to soak up bumps.
The new Nissan Ariya is practically the perfect car to tackle UK roads. It’s just the right size to cope with our smaller-than-average roads. In addition, it’s capable of comfortably damping out those potholes. It could make the driving experience even more effortless with Nissan’s e-Pedal one-pedal driving mode… This is a system that allows you to do most of your driving by just using the accelerator pedal.
What Is It Like Inside?
Given that it’s a big SUV, practicality is of utmost importance, and the Ariya excels in this case. The boot space is cavernous, with ample cubbies and storage compartments to allow you to better organise your cargo. Plus, the Ariya’s big battery pack (more on that later) doesn’t intrude on luggage capacity, either. Although, unlike some other EVs, you don’t get a secondary front boot, as that’s been occupied.
The latter is mostly used to house some other modules, as well as the heating and cooling equipment. If you do plan on going for long getaways, you’d be happy to hear that legroom and headroom elsewhere with the passenger cabin is plentiful. This prompts us to highlight another benefit of Nissan using a now-bespoke architecture for building the Ariya, in that it adopts a flat floor for the battery and motors.
As such, you won’t have those protruding into the passenger space. Besides that, the quality of the cabin is equally exceptional, reminding you that this is no ordinary Nissan. Looking around the interior, there’s an abundance of high-quality trim and luxurious upholstery. You’ll find how its leather is soft and supple, as is the plethora of suede. And, you even get wooden-style trim in here, with copper accents, too.
Nothing in here feels cheaply made or subpar in quality, rivalling even costlier luxury cars that are one or two price brackets higher. The one element in the interior that might be somewhat polarising is its use of touch-sensitive buttons in lieu of traditional physical buttons, switches, and knobs. This might be an annoyance for most of you looking into the Ariya’s interior, and it’s understandable.
You can’t rely on good-old muscle memory, and it forces you to look around to find where all the buttons and controls are, rather than feeling them. This will take you some time to get used to. Still, at least that functionality does at least work well enough for the most part, if not for the sheer novelty itself being an intriguing party trick. Anyway, there’s the rest of the in-car tech to gush over, if not the touch buttons.
The Ariya’s infotainment system and your digital gauge cluster have been integrated into a singular-looking, large slab of glass. Either one of those systems occupies a 12.3-inch screen each. The user interface and graphics might be familiar to some past Nissan models. With that being said, it transitions between screens rather smoothly, the animations between pages are slick, and the information is perfectly legible at a glance.
The Experience
The Nissan Ariya (in its e-4ORCE trim) has a 309-mile WLTP combined range courtesy of a large 87kWh – that’s the usable capacity, mind – battery pack. Topping up the battery could be done speedily in part to the 130kW max DC charge rate. This should be sufficient to recharge the battery from 20% to 80% in just about 30 minutes. Of course, it’s a lot longer if you’re not always fast-charging at 130kW.
For example, a 10% to 100% charge cycle on a 7.4kW AC charger will take you around 13.5 hours. Or, the higher 22kW AC output rate capability will still take you around 5 hours, in total. In the real world though, that aforementioned 309-mile of claimed EV range isn’t easily feasible. I was able to get around 250 miles of driving on the motorway at the speed limit. 270 miles might be possible if you’re going slowly.
Still, 250 miles isn’t bad compared to other EVs in its class, but somewhere closer to and beyond that 300-mile mark would be ideal. Aside from this, the Nissan Ariya has a copious amount of tech. Most notably, a lot of would-be potential owners may undoubtedly covet the inclusion of Nissan’s ProPILOT suite of safety systems and driver aids. It works amazingly well and even gives you the option to configure it.
You could thus set up, for instance, how sensitive you’d want the systems to be, or whether you want it to hold the lane on the motorway, among other scenarios. On the motorway, lane-keep assist and blind-spot monitoring will be your best friends. For navigating the urban environment, you’d value the parking assist features, along with the 360-degree camera, rearview camera, and rear-cross traffic alerts.
Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE Evolve Cost
Our example of the Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE here is priced at £61,810. Nonetheless, the OTR for the e-4ORCE dual-motor variant is £58,590. The remainder of that balance had gone into the two optional extras which were included in our car… A £1,225 fee for the lovely, glimmering Akatsuki Copper paintwork. And, there’s the other, £1,995 cost that accounts for the inclusion of the Sport Pack in our Nissan Ariya.
The latter gets you 20-inch alloy wheels with the aero-disc-like cover, as well as blue Nappa leather. It’s a good time to remind you that the ‘Evolve’ trim is the highest trim level that you can get for the Ariya. This, with both the Evolve trim and the e-4ORCE dual motor set-up, makes it the costliest combination if you’re planning to get an Ariya. On the bright side, most of the niceties do come as standard fitment.
Verdict
All in all, Nissan’s new Ariya remains a compelling alternative for anyone looking into getting a premium EV, but won’t break the bank entirely. As for the bang-for-buck factor, I’d argue that the single-motor trim options for the Ariya, at a much cheaper cost, reveal a more attractive proposition. The dual motors are nice, but for a lot of people, it might be unnecessary.
With that said, the Ariya is nevertheless a superb electric car. It’s practical, luxurious, well-designed, and can be fun to drive. The Ariya is the do-it-all EV that does everything well, but does not compromise anything, or force you to put up with any silly gimmicks. For lack of a better analogy, the Nissan Ariya is built for the techy and eco-conscious world of tomorrow but remains a fabulous car to live with today.
Specification
Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE Evolve Specs
- Price: £61,810
- Engine: Dual-Motor AWD, 87kWh Battery
- Power: 301bhp
- Torque: 600Nm
- 0-62mph: 5.7 seconds
- Top speed: 124mph
- Weight: 1,900-2,200kg
- Economy combined: 309 Miles Combined (WLTP)
