Louth Motors: Ariya arrival has been worth the wait

Nissan was the first of the main manufacturers to make a big plunge and splash into the fully electric car market.

They were alone there for quite a while until all the other manufacturers got in line and started to churn out their own models.

I’ve always felt that the electric cars that came after the Nissan Leaf benefited more from the Leaf than the Leaf itself.

The Leaf first debuted in 2010 and has sold over 500,000 models since then.

The best ever selling electric car model though is the Tesla Model 3 which we first saw in 2017 and their Model Y (review here soon) is on target to surpass the Leaf this year.

Nissan, having made the decision to go-large with the Leaf never really forged ahead with other models leaving the volts and amps solely to the Leaf.

Indeed I’m a bit confused by their electric strategy because they are now producing versions of the Qashqai and X-Trail that are entirely electrically propelled deriving power from an engine that runs on petrol to generate the electricity which for the life of me, not having driven one yet, I can’t see the environmental benefit. I may when I get to drive them both soon.

This distracts from Nissan’s second all-electric offering the Ariya which is a full blooded EV.
The only way to “fuel” this car is to charge it up.

Once you have, there is a claimed range of 403 kms or 532 kms depending on the battery size you choose.

Not bad for a coupe crossover in or around the same proportions as the Hyundai Ioniq5 and the Kia EV6 - two of its arch rivals.

It's shorter and narrower than the Ioniq5 & EV6 but 55mm & 110mm taller respectively which may go some way to explaining my shock that it wasn't much bigger than both of those cars.

That’s because it looks like it is much bigger, and dare I say it, felt like it was.

It’s also a bit of a backhanded compliment to the Korean manufacturers that they have managed to make their cars look smaller which is no easy thing to do.

In terms of looks I really dont think there's a better looking electric vehicle than the Ariya.
It looks super cool and futuristic and exactly how a gamechanger should look fitting the bill as a belated followup to the Leaf which, let's face it, didn’t get any hearts racing.

There is a large vertical front grille area that probably is the reason why it looks so big. I’m thinking of a big American SUV front.

This feeds the high waistline at the side cementing the chunky feel and at the back Nissan didn’t go wild and kept a sort of corporate look lifted from the Qashqai - the new X-Trail is thankfully different so at least all the models won't look clonelike.

The interior majors in minimalism and simplicity that we all seem to love these days and feels slim.

Nothing excessive or unnecessary here that somehow exudes a great sense of calm.

The dash has touch sensitive controls inlaid into it that I’ve not seen before and the steering wheel is touch sensitive as well.

There's the coolest central storage compartment under the middle of the dash that's perfectly damped and is simply divine.

Above the dash is an all digital drivers display that extends towards the centre and integrates the infotainment system and is as good, if not better, as anything on offer from the top end manufacturers.

The location of the volume knob and start button where Nissan have placed them should be enshrined in law in the motoring world.

As should the e-Pedal which allows you to accelerate and brake when you ease off the accelerator for one pedal driving - it really is a marvel.

There's a flat floor that always pleases and marks the car out as different. I was more relaxed driving this car than any other I’ve driven in a long time.

The ride is a little bit hard but not annoyingly.

For all my trips I never got out feeling anything other than fresh so none of the less than perfect road surfaces fed their way into the car and directly to my spine/back.

That firmness was welcome around the bends as the car, despite its tall proportions, didn't lean much and make a mockery of my expectation that it would.

The Nissan website doesn't show the current pricing but back in July 2022 they announced it was €48,995 for the entry Advance model.

The top of the range Evolve model will cost you €66,995 which has the larger 87kWh battery.
Nissan seem to have a finger in every electric pie at the moment with the addition of the Juke Hybrid and are not signalling the direction they are favouring.

We have waited a long time for the second all-electric car from them and, my oh my, have they produced a cracker.

It suggests to me that if they went full steam ahead electric they could replicate the success they achieved with the Leaf a lot sooner and sell a lot more cars.

The Ariya is my new favourite electric car taking the crown from the Ioniq5, just.

Next week the commercial legend that is the Ford Transit goes electric and I’ll be driving it.