Well, you can stop holding your breath. After what feels like an eternity of waiting, watching, and wondering, the boat has officially left the dock. Nissan has confirmed that the first examples of its drop-dead gorgeous ARIYA EV have set sail from Japan, bound for Australian shores. Meanwhile, us Kiwi’s have been driving them for ages!
For years, the Nissan LEAF has been the sensible, dependable older sibling of the EV world. It wrote the book on mass-market electric vehicles, but let’s be honest, it wasn’t exactly the car that got your pulse racing. The ARIYA, however, is the cool younger sibling that spent a year abroad, learned some new tricks, and came back with a seriously slick haircut. This is Nissan’s “next chapter,” and it looks like a bestseller.
Forged in the advanced Tochigi Plant in Japan, the ARIYA is more than just a new car; it’s a statement. Nissan’s Senior Vice President of Global Design, Alfonso Albaisa, says the team wanted to ensure the “soul of the vehicle reflects our distinctive Japanese DNA”. They’ve even coined a phrase for it: “Timeless Japanese Futurism”. It sounds like a sci-fi movie genre, and looking at the ARIYA’s ultra-sleek, sharp, and seamless lines, we’d say they nailed the brief.
“The wait is almost over for one of our most exciting vehicles, and I look forward to seeing the ARIYA on Australian roads,” says Warwick Daly, Deputy Director Marketing & Mobility at Nissan Australia. You and us both, Warwick.
So, how do you get your hands on one? Nissan has already opened the order books. Eager beavers can head to the Nissan Australia website or march right into their local dealership to place an order ahead of the official on-sale date at the beginning of September.
Now for the paperwork, and it’s actually pretty compelling. Nissan is backing the ARIYA with its “Nissan MORE” program, which includes an almost ridiculously long warranty: 10 years or 300,000km. There’s a catch, of course, but it’s a reasonable one. To get the full decade of coverage, you need to keep servicing your ARIYA at an authorised Nissan dealer. If you stray, the warranty reverts to the standard (and still very respectable) 5-year/unlimited-kilometre plan. It’s a loyalty program with some serious perks.
This package also includes a five-year flat-price servicing program and up to 10 years of roadside assistance, provided you keep playing on their team. For the crucial bit—the battery—Nissan is offering a specific Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity Warranty. This covers the battery against excessive capacity loss (dropping below nine of the twelve bars on the gauge) for 96 months or 160,000 km, whichever comes first.
The ship is on the water, the order books are open, and the warranty is locked and loaded. The next chapter of Nissan’s electric story is about to hit Aussie tarmac, and it promises an “exhilarating and engaging drive experience” wrapped in a stunning Japanese design. Get ready.
