Nissan Ariya review: Well-equipped five-door electric SUV for familes

The Nissan Ariya is a neatly-styled, generously-equipped five-door family SUV that is competitively priced. There is a wealth of choice for customers with trim levels, battery sizes and the option of AWD, and the range is decent enough, too, ranging from 247 to 330 miles depending on the model.

It offers a relaxing, easy driving experience with smooth acceleration and can cope with motorway runs cruising at 70mph, twisting B roads or congested town centre traffic.

It certainly looks and feels more upmarket than some competitors, but on the downside, the charging capability is not as fast and the boot capacity is also smaller than certain rivals.

Considering the overwhelming success of the Leaf, we can’t quite fathom why it took Nissan more than 10 years to bring out a follow-up EV, but it has been worth the wait. The only problem is the growing number of competitors out there now vying for sales, such as the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6 and Volkswagen ID.4. Hopefully Nissan hasn’t left it too late to join the party.

We had already tested the Nissan Ariya under normal conditions, but jumped at the opportunity to see how it coped – range and performance wise – when faced with snow and plummeting temperatures in Finland.

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Independent rating: 8/10

The Nissan Ariya is available in trims called Engage (£39,645), Advance (£43,145) and Evolve (£47,140). Once you have selected the trim, the next choice is battery size with 63kWh and 87kWh units across all three trims. Finally, there is the option of adding all-wheel drive, or e-4ORCE as Nissan calls it, to the mix on the Advance and Evolve specifications.

We had tested the Ariya on standard UK roads and it performed really well, but we couldn’t turn down the chance to see how it coped with extreme conditions. Driving the range-topping Evolve model with the larger battery and AWD, the five-door family SUV, which would be more accustomed to the school run, faced a race track carved out of ice, some snow-covered highways, along with an icy forest drive, all of which it took in its stride. And the only addition to our car was studded winter tyres for added grip.

With instant power on tap, it can reach 62mph from a standing start in 5.7 seconds and has a top speed of 124mph. There is no bulky engine up front meaning the Ariya has a 50:50 weight distribution and that makes for great fun in the snow and ice with the e-4ORCE technology assisting with braking and power distribution. Drive modes called Standard, Eco, Sport and Snow alter the driving characteristics of the Ariya and there is a B mode for added regenerative braking force. An e-Pedal makes single pedal driving possible which is appreciated in busy stop, start traffic.

We were really impressed with the ease in which the Ariya performed. In fact, it was so confident, we preferred it to the far more rough and ready Nissan X-Trail 4x4 when faced with the same course. The below-zero temperatures, along with the unusual testing conditions, did see a drop in battery range of about 10 to 15 per cent, as expected.

Fast charging via a 130kW outlet takes 40 minutes from 20 to 80 per cent, which is not as fast as some competitors. If using a 7.4kW wallbox, a 10 to 100 per cent boost takes 13 hours, 30 minutes.

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The Nissan Ariya is a practical five-door, five-seat family SUV that features black synthetic leather upholstered seats with Ultrasuede inserts. It’s a fairly minimalist interior but, at the same time, has a premium feel to it with high-end fixtures and fittings, along with lots of plush soft-touch surfaces.

The seats and steering wheel can be heated and both are power-adjustable, so finding the ideal driving position is simple enough. Special mention to the great all-round driver visibility, too, which is a ‘must’ on any family SUV.

And with family getaways in mind, there is ample space for a trio of teenagers in the back without too much squabbling.

The boot is accessed via a powered tailgate and can swallow 408 litres of luggage (466 litres on 2WD models). Drop the 60:40 split-folding rear seats and that limit increases to 1,280 litres. Elsewhere, throughout the cabin, is a central cubby with a wireless charging pad, door bins, a glovebox, sunglasses compartment, front and rear cup holders, plus a hidden tray that pops out from the dashboard.

The Nissan Ariya can tow a braked trailer weighing up to 750kg, but this will have an impact on the driving range of the car.

The main focal point within the Ariya is a 12.3-inch navigation infotainment system, which is the nerve centre and access point to the many on-board creature comforts. These include smartphone connection via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a pitch-perfect sound system, Bluetooth and DAB radio. This screen is simple to operate on the fly without being overcomplicated.

All the vital driving data is clearly shown on a further 12.3-inch driver display and you also get a head-up display to keep a watchful eye on the speed. In addition, a personal assistant can help with plotting navigational routes, changing a radio station or making a phone call without taking your hands from the steering wheel.

A powered centre console can be moved forwards and backwards and this features haptic touch controls to access the drive modes, e-Pedal and parking assist functions. This is quite a quirky feature, but works well enough.

There is a separate panel housing the climate control settings and an intelligent rearview mirror featuring a camera can show what is going on directly behind the car. I always find these a bit of a distraction and revert back to a traditional view, but it can be handy if you have a car full of passengers and luggage resulting in restricted visibility.

The Nissan Ariya line-up starts at £39,645 for the entry-level Engage trim with the smaller 63kWh battery and increases to £54,840 for the Evolve e-4ORCE with the 87kWh unit. With so much choice between trims and battery sizes, as well as the option of all-wheel drive, customers need to weigh up exactly what they want and need from their car before signing on the dotted line.

Following our Finland adventure, our top tip about heating the car in colder conditions is to turn on the seat and steering wheel heaters as this uses far less energy than warming the entire cabin.

The Ariya is covered by Nissan’s standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which extends to eight years or 100,000 miles battery cover.

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On a 130kW fast charger, you can charge from 20 to 80 per cent in 40 minutes

With a starting price at under £40,000, the Nissan Ariya is on par with rivals in the highly-competitive family EV sector. There are cheaper models out there and plenty more with a higher price-tag, so selection will probably come down to badge preference.

The batteries are covered by an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

We waited a long time, possibly too long, for the Ariya to finally arrive. After all, the Nissan Leaf had been a forerunner of EV technology since 2010, so we had high expectations for its larger sibling. And, apart from a few gripes and niggles, we were not disappointed.