JAPAN - Nissan's first electric SUV can run 482 km per charge, with almost no control knobs in the cabin.
The Japanese automaker was one of the first automakers to produce a fully electric car when it launched the Leaf model in 2010. At that time, the company had big plans to electrify the entire product. Later, CEO Carlos Ghosn predicted that electric vehicles could account for 10% of global auto sales by 2020.
But in 2019, electric vehicles accounted for only 2,6% of all cars sold worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Besides the Leaf model, before the Ariya launched, Nissan had three other electric cars: eNV, Altra and Hypermini.
eNV is the rechargeable version of the NV valve line, not sold in the US. Altra was only produced during 1998-2002 with only 200 cars, and was only sold in Japan. The Hypermini is a two-seat car, launched in 1999, the target customers are Japanese government agencies with a price of about 37.000 USD.
The Ariya is Nissan's second electric car sold in the US, with a slightly larger size than the Leaf, and a design similar to the Murano SUV. The significant difference is in the grille, because the Ariya is an electric car so there is no need for air vents to cool the engine. In addition, the Nissan logo has also been refreshed.
The Ariya's cabin is spacious thanks to taking advantage of the space from the absence of an engine. Things that used to take up a lot of interior space, such as air conditioning units, are now located under the bonnet.
Replacing the rotary buttons to adjust the air conditioning or sound are control buttons with tactile touch technology, with glowing symbols on the control panel.
The large, flat battery pack is located under the car's floor, which is what creates the completely flat floor design, a layout similar to that of some electric vehicles, such as the Tesla Model Y.
The Ariya is equipped with Nissan's ProPilot driving assistance technology, allowing hands-free driving on highways in some countries. Technology similar to the system applied on vehicles from General Motors or soon Ford, will be the first for Nissan vehicles in the US.
The electric SUV comes with the option of front- or four-wheel drive, as well as two different sized battery packs. The standard version uses a 63 kWh battery. The higher version of 87 kWh helps Ariya run 482 km per charge, according to US EPA standards. There is currently no information about the lower version.
Ariya is capable of accelerating from 0-97 km/h in about 5 seconds. This performance is similar to Nissan's 370Z sports car.
The Nissan Ariya will go on sale in Japan from mid-2021 and come to the US the following year. The selling price in the US is about 40.000 USD, which is several thousand dollars lower than competitors such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y. Nissan said that it will launch 8 new electric car models by 2022.
According to VnExpress