Nissan Ariya electric SUV: specs, prices and on-sale date

The pure-electric ‘coupe crossover’ is available with front or four-wheel drive and offers up to 310 miles of range on a charge; prices start from £41,845

Order books for the Nissan Ariya are now open, with prices for the new Audi Q4 e-tron, Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.5 rival starting from £41,845. Four versions are available for UK buyers to pre-order and first deliveries are expected in summer 2022.

The entry-level Ariya Advance gets a 63kWh battery, which feeds a single electric motor making 214bhp and 300Nm of torque. It’ll do 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds, has a top speed of 99mph and offers up to 223 miles' range. 

Upgrade to the Ariya Evolve – which Nissan expects will be the biggest-selling model – and you get a larger 87kWh battery and 310 miles' range. It still has a single electric motor powering the front wheels, this time producing 239bhp and 300Nm of torque. In this version, 0-62mph takes a slightly longer 7.6 seconds due to the larger battery. Prices start from £51,090.

Two dual-motor versions of the Ariya are also available, both of which get Nissan's 'e-4ORCE' four-wheel-drive system that can vary the amount of torque between the front and rear axles, and use individual wheel braking to improve agility and handling.

The Ariya e-4ORCE Evolve starts from £53,790, with the dual-motor setup producing a combined 304bhp and 600Nm of torque, which means 0-62mph takes 5.7 seconds and top speed is increased to 124mph. It has the larger 87kWh battery and promises up to 285 miles on a charge.

Meanwhile, the top-of-the-range Ariya e-4ORCE Performance costs £58,400, pumps out 389bhp and 600Nm of torque and can go from 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds – over a second faster than the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX. The downside of this performance is maximum range being slashed to 248 miles.

Nissan Ariya charging and dimensions

The entry-level Advance features a 7.4kW on-board charger, while the 87kWh battery versions support 22kW three-phase charging as standard. In addition, the Ariya can recharge at up to 130kW from sufficiently fast public rapid-charging points. Notably, the Ariya has ditched the Nissan Leaf’s CHAdeMO charging connection in favour of the more popular European-style CCS system.

The Ariya sits on CMF-EV electric-car mechanical platform, which was developed by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and also underpins the Renault Megane E-TECH Electricwhich we’ve driven in prototype form.

Measuring almost 4.6 metres from nose to tail, the Ariya is longer than the petrol-powered Nissan Qashqai, but shorter than the seven-seater Nissan X-Trail. Height-wise, it sits between the two, but is wider than both. The most important measurement is the 2.7-metre wheelbase; this means the Ariya should offer more space inside than its combustion-engined siblings, aided further by a completely flat floor.

Design, interior and technology

Developing a design language first seen on the latest Nissan Juke, the Ariya gets a set of ultra-slim LED headlights flanking a blanked-out grille emblazoned with a redesigned Nissan badge. The sloping roofline ties in with the ‘coupe crossover’ theme, while the narrow rear window and full-width light bar are in-vogue features appearing on many new electric cars these days.

The cabin has been modelled around a “sleek cafe lounge” them, according to Nissan. The minimalist dashboard is almost completely devoid of buttons and features a pair of 12.3-inch displays – one central infotainment touchscreen and a digital driver’s display behind the steering wheel. The Ariya can also receive over-the-air (OTA) software updates, and features a virtual assistant activated by saying ‘Hello Nissan’ and ‘Hey Nissan’.

All versions except the entry-level Advance get an electric panoramic sunroof and the Bose Tech Pack as standard, which includes a head-up display, 10-speaker sound system and ‘intelligent rear-view mirror’ that can show the feed from a rear-view camera. Elsewhere, the Ariya comes with either 19 or 20-inch wheels depending on variant, plus a choice of four upholstery and 10 paint options, including six two-tone colour schemes.

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The Ariya is also expected to get an advanced version of Nissan’s ProPilot semi-autonomous drive system. The new setup uses navigation data to offer a “smoother ride during single-lane highway driving”. The system can adjust speed based on upcoming road conditions, as well as being able to slow the car for approaching corners.

Welcome one and all, I’m Ellis the news reporter on Auto Express, the brand’s former online reviews editor and contributor to DrivingElectric. I’m proud to say I cut my teeth reporting and reviewing all things EV as the content editor on DrivingElectric. I joined the team while completing my master’s degree in automotive journalism at Coventry University and since then I’ve driven just about every electric car and hybrid I could get my hands on.

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