About the same size as the conventional Nissan Rogue, the Ariya is a dedicated electric car built on a a new platform. Nissan is unsure about details of the car but so far two battery packs, one with 66kWh and the other with 87 kWh, have been announced. Stated range is from 346 to 476 kilometres, depending on the model picked. The battery pack is liquid cooled with should maintain an even temperature and performance unaffected by ambient temperature. Front-wheel drive is standard, with a two-motor, all-wheel drive system, marketed as e-4ORCE, optional. Nissan ProPILOT Assist 2.0, touted as Hands Free and Steer Free, uses the navigation system and 3-D mapping to detect road parameters that can perform multi-lane driving tasks including lane changes, passing and exiting a highway.

Nissan refers to the Ariya’s exterior design as “Timeless Japanese Futurism” and that the pattern behind the flat surface of the “grille” bears a 3-D traditional “Kumiko” motif. Fanciful terms aside, the Ariya is a clean, elegant and well-proportioned car. Anyone familiar which Mazda’s current “visually restrained with taut surfaces” styling direction will see something familiar. The Ariya’s cabin, with a large, rectangular computer tablet spanning the right two-thirds of the horizontally-oriented dashboard, looks similar to the one used in the Hyundai Ioniq 5. There is a vehicle function display in front of the driver and infotainment oriented displays on the right side of the tablet. There are no conventional dials or knobs for various functions which are handled by “haptic” feedback surfaces located within horizontal dash trim under the right side of the tablet. The rest of the cabin features very simple styling that is in no way plain. Cabin and cargo space look ample. The Ariya is the first production Nissan car to wear the company’s new corporate logo.

Bizarre and excessively complex model range. Two battery strengths, 66 kWh and 91 kWh, are available. The Engage, Venture and Evolve+ trims feature front-wheel drive via a front-mounted motor, with the Evolve, Platinum+ and Premiere featuring all-wheel drive courtesy of a dual motor system. The 63 kWh Engage is nicely equipped and has a range of 348 kilometers. Migrating to the Venture+ trim retains the front-wheel drive, ups the battery pack to 87 kWh and range to 490 kilometers, but deletes about $2000 worth of features standard on the Engage, making the value of the battery around $8500. The Evolve trim brings back the 63 kWh battery pack, dropping the range to 330 kilometers, but adds the dual-motor all-wheel drive system as well as a 360 degree camera, a power tailgate, a panoramic sunroof, fog lights, power-operated front seats, heated steering wheel and a head-up display system. Compared with the Engage model, the Evolve offers almost enough equipment to justify its price bump but also includes the dual-motor all-wheel drive unit, making it a bargain. The Evolve+ trim is powered by the 87 kWh battery pack, with 465 kilometers of range, returns to front-wheel drive, adds a Bose-branded audio system and, though seemingly pointless, is reasonably priced given the larger battery pack. When its additional content and the dual-motor drive system are accounted for, the Platinum trim price premium is acceptable value. The Premiere trim is priced only $800 more than the Platinum+ but includes Nappa leather seating in place of vinyl, making it a bargain. The leather should either be added to the Platinum trim and the Premiere discontinued. Quebec offers a $7000 rebate for the Engage and Venture+ trims of the Ariya, with the federal government kicking in $5000 for the front-wheel drive Engage, Venture+ and Evolve+ trims. 

Not rated, new model. The previous Leaf was reliable up to about the 100,000 kilometre point after which typical Nissan problems, like premature suspension wear, accompanied by witheringly expense repairs, as well as steering rack problems, rear their ugly heads. Leasing would be a way to avoid these costly, premature component failures.