This end of year has been full of revisits to cars I’ve had on loan in the near (and not so near) past. It is always a great opportunity to see how a car stacks up this ever-evolving landscape of new launches, with the refreshed view on what the competition is bringing. Jumping into the Nissan Ariya after first driving it back in 2024 has been a welcome reminder that some cars don’t need constant iteration to feel modern.
From the outside, it looks as much like a concept car as it did back then. The long and low slung roof, the sleek lights and, of course, the nice colour combinations make it look very modern. In a sea of generic looking EV SUVs, the Ariya stands alone, and champions Nissan’s newest design identity. I’ve been accused of liking everything, but to me this feels like a design not done by a LLM.
The interior remains one of the most inviting and memorable cabins in the EV space. The open floor and the sliding centre console are no longer unseen elsewhere, same for the massive (opening) sunroof. What’s still fresh, however, is the mix of wood veneer and blue leather, and the choice of where to use suede, or where to expose stitching. It is genuinely special, and while there is no shortage of stitched panels or quilted leather in the segment, here it is done right: it feels curated, deliberate. And importantly, it feels expensive in the best possible way, and improved from other Nissans around the same price bracket.
The seats continue that theme. They’re beautifully shaped with a huge range of adjustment, making it almost impossible not to find a great driving position. Two memory presets help, and while heating is welcome (same for the steering wheel), the cooling fans are borderline unusable, being the loudest I’ve ever encountered — it’s like having a TV playing static on the back seat (check my previous Ariya review for actual irrefutable data). Visibility is excellent all around, enhancing that airy, lounge-like atmosphere. Everyone who jumps in immediately comments on how nice the space feels.
Despite the dashboard adopting the now-familiar “wide dual screen” format, Nissan nailed it by integrating the displays more elegantly than most. The resolution, that was already behind when I first tested the car, is now clearly a relic, but functionally they’re totally fine. Everything you need is shown clearly, and the driver’s cluster in particular has a level of customisation that makes the whole interface feel tailored and intuitive. The switchgear is a mixed bag: all actual buttons are satisfying to use and help complete the impression of premiumness, but the touch sensitive surfaces on the wood veneer have different sensitivity thresholds, and the haptic feedback is a bit soft. It looks great, but I think buttons are still the way to go.
Where the Ariya continues to impress, though, is in how utterly effortless it is to live with. The driver assistance systems are a masterclass for newer EV brands: non-intrusive, easy to engage, easy to adjust, and never overshooting their purpose (although adaptive cruise could use some limo driving classes). The car just disappears around you, there’s no learning curve, nothing you need to “figure out,” nothing that demands acclimatisation. You simply get in, put it in drive, and go about your day.
Efficiency figures, for me, sat around the 17.5kWh/100 km, and with a full battery you’re looking at a real-world range that sits comfortably near the 500 km mark. It’s genuinely practical and never feels like you’re managing the drivetrain or chasing numbers.
Alongside this larger battery, the top of the range model also gets AWD courtesy of another motor mounted to the rear, giving 195kW and 450Nm of torque. They are good for the added torque delivery (that the Ariya never struggled with, by the way), making the Ariya quick off the line like most EVs are. It’s impressive, but not very engaging. The suspension calibration is interesting, being stiff and dampened, in an effort to keep the weight under control. It can get a bit crashy in repeated undulations, and never feels uncomfortably rough. It is a departure to the underdampened couches we see in the segment, but still not enough to make it sporty.
The different drive modes bring meaningful changes to the calibration, with Sport weighing up the steering to a comical level, and Eco watering down the power delivery to a point that will make you question if you actually have that much torque. Normal seems to be the way to go, and you still have E-Pedal on top of that, to simulate one pedal driving. “Simulate” because it doesn’t bring the car to a full stop and, even worse, it moves the brake pedal down as it shaves speed. Reaching for the brake and having the pedal be at a different position every time is very disconcerting and makes it hard to do a smooth stop – not a fan.
Nissan had a great platform to build upon with the Ariya, especially with all the learnings of being a trailblazer of EV motoring with the almighty Leaf. I wish we saw more of them on the roads, as it is a cohesive, calm, and very competent EV SUV. It gets fundamentals done extremely right, and if you can drive around the weird brake behaviour and the antiquated (but still completely functional) tech on offer, it becomes very compelling. Even with this time having passed, it still feels premium, and definitely feels distinctive. And above all, it is easy to live with, thanks to Nissan’s knowledge in car making, and the Ariya’s substantial range.
