First and foremost, you may want to know this is not another concept, even though it carries over the name of the eponymous prototype seen at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show and its moral forebearer is the IMx - seen at the same venue two years prior, in 2017. Nissan’s Ariya fully electric crossover is a series production vehicle although it is different from anything we have seen so far from the automaker.
Although it shares the absolute best electric technology with the best-selling Leaf EV, Nissan’s second mainstream electric model is certainly a remarkable sight. Revealed during an online event hosted at Nissan’s upcoming Pavilion in Yokohama, the high-riding vehicle adopts the trendy crossover coupe design that has been gaining momentum across the world in recent years.
The company is not going through its best moments due to the ongoing economic situation but has already kicked off in full swing its reworked model strategy – we have already seen the RogueSUV and now Ariya infuses even styling to the range. The design comes virtually unchanged from the preceding concept.
No surprises here, we should remember Nissan has never been afraid to experiment – having established on its own the compact and subcompact crossover segments with the original Qashqai and Juke generations. Nissan has a name for the new styling definitions brought by the Ariya - Timeless Japanese Futurism.
And it all starts and EV-specific front fascia. Front and center is the new 3D shield inspired by a “traditional Japanese kumiko pattern”. There is also a touch of bling – Nissan's logo has also been reimagined and is now backlit with no less than 20 LEDs. The profile is clean and sleek, supported by standard 19-inch or optional 20-inch wheels.
Photo: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
The same minimalist design approach is used for the rear end, dominated by a new lighting “blade” that communicates well in terms of thinness with the headlamps, constructed out of four mini-projectors. Nissan also introduces a new “Akatsuki” color package – a combination of copper with a black roof, while also offering a total of six two-tone paints and four standard shades.
The interior highlights all the latest technologies of the company. It comes, for the first time, with OTA capabilities (firmware over-the-air updates) and certain tasks and commands will be transmitted to the car via an intelligent personal assistant with “a hybrid voice recognition system with advanced natural language understanding technology to handle in-vehicle assistance without the driver taking their eyes off the road.”
There is also a unified driving experience center – a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster combines with an equally-large 12.3-inch central touchscreen. When available, the new crossover EV will arrive with an enhanced version of the company’s ProPilot semi-autonomous driving assistance system.
The technology now takes advantage of the integrated navigation system to extract map data for the plotted course. It is still only allowing one-lane automated driving, but it can now adjust based on speed limits and road conditions ahead. Of course, the heart of this new crossover is the EV technology – and Ariya will offer a broad choice to fend off rivals.
Photo: Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Nissan will allow customers to choose between two-wheel drive and AWD powertrains, with one or two electric motors. The European market will receive a total of five versions: 2WD with 63 or 87 kWh battery packs (all figures are usable capacity), as well as e-4ORCE (AWD) with 63, 87 and 87 kWh Performance.
Power differs according to the selected choice: 160, 178, 205, 225 and 290 kW for the flagship Ariya Performance. Specifications are geared towards long-range driving or a sporty atmosphere. For example, the least range comes from the base e-4ORCE 63 kWh (340 km), while the 2WD 87 kWh model will carry on for up to 500 km (310 miles).
In terms of raw performance, the sprint ranges between 7.5 and 5.1 seconds to 62 mph (100 kph), while top speed is limited to 160 kph (100 mph) for the 2WD and 200 kph (124 mph) for the e-4ORCE models. Nissan positions the Ariya as a compact offering at 4,595 mm long and with a 468 (415 for AWD) liter boot capacity.
Nissan has thought about everything – the Japanese automaker has also prepared a towing capacity rating of up to 1500 kg (3307 lbs.). The powertrain includes three (Standard, Sport and ECO) drive modes for the 2WD and there is an additional Snow setting for the AWD versions.
An interesting change also comes in the charging department – Nissan adopts the European Combined Charging System (CCS). The on-board chargers come in two forms – 7.4 kW (63 kWh) and 22 kW (87 kWh), while public DC stations will top up the batteries at up to 130 kW.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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