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Driven: Nissan Ariya 63kWh. Image by Nissan.

Driven: Nissan Ariya 63kWh
The long-awaited follow-up to the Nissan Leaf is the Ariya SUV, but does this electric SUV reset any parameters in its market sector?

   



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Nissan Ariya 63kWh Advance

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Having set the affordable electric vehicle (EV) ball rolling long before anyone else with its Leaf in 2010, we waited a long time before the second zero-emission Nissan turned up. Twelve years, in fact, with the Ariya landing in 2022. Having briefly sampled all three mainstream variants of the Japanese electric SUV prevously, namely the 63kWh single-motor, the 87kWh single-motor and the 87kWh dual-motor e-4orce, we've now spent a week with the first of these to see if the Ariya convinces as one of the best vehicles of its type.

Test Car Specifications

Model: 2024 Nissan Ariya 63kWh Advance
Price: Ariya range from £39,645, 63kWh Advance from £43,145, car as tested £45,665
Motor: 160kW front-mounted electric motor
Battery: 63kWh (usable) lithium-ion
Transmission: single-speed reduction-gear automatic, front-wheel drive
Power: 217hp
Torque: 300Nm
Emissions: 0g/km
Range: up to 250 miles
0-62mph: 7.5 seconds
Top speed: 100mph (limited)
Boot space: 466-1,280 litres
Kerb weight: 1,917kg

Styling

With its swoopy shape and plenty of black contrast detailing, there's nothing overtly wrong with the Nissan Ariya's design. It can carry off bold colours like Akatsuki Copper well, while the sleek appearance is clearly designed to make it as aerodynamic and thus long-legged (to a single charge of its battery) as it can be. But it also makes 19-inch alloy wheels seem a bit lost in the arches, especially when viewed from the rear three-quarters where the Ariya appears a touch hefty, while it's not particularly distinctive overall, in and among the sea of similarly slippery-shaped rivals that are available in 2025.

Interior

Solidly built and featuring the de rigueur interior layout of 2020s electrics - a widescreen pair of digital displays dominating the dash - the Ariya's cabin is largely good, although it's not that exciting to look at. About the only aesthetic flourish the designers of the Nissan EV have incorporated here is the 'fake' wood trim that has light-up switchgear hidden in it, but that's not much more than a novelty once you've gotten used to it. Otherwise, you're focusing on the twin 12.3-inch screens for the instrument cluster and infotainment, and - again - these are fine, if not particularly advanced with regards the graphical clarity. Generally speaking, it's a perfectly safe, acceptable cabin in the Ariya, but not a noteworthy or memorable one either.

Practicality

Good rear leg- and headroom are on offer in the Ariya, while it also has a wealth of useful storage cubbies dotted about its interior. As a single-motor model, the 63kWh car also has the (joint-)biggest boot of any version in the range, but in the wider scheme of things 466 litres is not a number to be crowing about for a vehicle of this class and size - we'd normally expect at least 500 litres here, maybe more. There's a nice, flat floor in the Nissan, though, and that counts all throughout the passenger compartment, because even the space that would normally be a ridge between the two front footwells is in fact completely level. Which means the driver can easily get in and out of the passenger door, should they want to for some strange reason.

Performance

Of the three regular Ariyas (i.e., not counting the Nismo) available, this base model is the only one available with the smaller 63kWh battery pack. Its front-mounted motor has the least outputs of any model, packing 217hp and 300Nm, when the larger 87kWh FWD Ariya is uprated to 242hp. Mind, that car has no extra torque and it weighs more, so it's a tenth-of-a-second slower to 62mph than this basic Nissan is, which runs the sprint in 7.5 seconds. If you want more thump from your EV, you'll need the dual-motor e-4orce variant of the Ariya, which has 306hp, a giant 600Nm and a 0-62mph time of 5.7 seconds. Or go even further for the 435hp Nismo, natch.

Anyway, you will want more thump from your EV than this 63kWh car serves up. It's OK, of course, because its performance is smooth and instant and easily accessible, and Nissan has geared it to have a nice linearity of delivery (accepting that these modestly powered EVs tend to quickly start tailing off significantly for acceleration at about 60mph), but when 217hp is trying to shift around more than 1.9 tonnes of bulk, the resulting pace is somewhat blunted. Weirdly enough, despite being officially more than a second quicker for 0-62mph, the Ariya didn't feel anything like as lively and swift as a single-motor BMW iX1 we had on test not long after the Nissan - and remember, the German vehicle had less power, less torque and more weight. Odd.

With the smallest battery onboard, it's not even like this Ariya can hit back with a great one-shot range. It's the most limited variant of the Nissan's range, managing up to 250 miles in a single hit... and you'll never get 250 miles out of it in a month of Sundays. The other two 87kWh cars, even the e-4orce, have claimed figures well in excess of 300 miles, and so it's really only on price that this 63kWh Ariya makes sense. More alarmingly, the Nissan arrived with 54 per cent battery showing and the trip computer said it would only go 100 miles on that electrical reserve, while we saw a poor 2.8 miles/kWh across 135 miles of local-roads testing (as in, we never went on a long motorway run in it to substantially harm the economy figure).

Honestly, anything less than 3 miles/kWh is not good enough in family-oriented, zero-emission SUVs these days, unless they've got more than 400hp, dual-motor all-wheel drive and/or they weigh in excess of 2.2 tonnes. To get 2.8 miles/kWh from a reasonably gently driven Ariya 63kWh is going to work out as 175 miles, which works out as a real-world 140 miles if you're charging to 80 per cent at the Nissan's 130kW DC max rate. That's city-car sort of range levels, not what's required from a large SUV, frankly.

Ride & Handling

You're probably not expecting us to say the Ariya 63kWh was a hoot to drive in this section... so don't worry, we're not about to surprise you. The Nissan serves up a very bland driving experience, with light steering, soft body control, and fairly woolly throttle and brake pedals, all of which add up to a machine you will rarely, if ever, want to provoke as the driver. Perhaps why 217hp/300Nm isn't so bad, then.

Sure, the Ariya rides pretty sweetly - with the exception of the sharp-edged, lumpen way it deals with larger imperfections in the road taken at speed - and it keeps itself quiet at all times too, so the rolling refinement is excellent. But so is the rolling refinement in just about every single rival electric SUV that's already out there, so once again the Ariya is resetting precisely no parameters in this dynamic regard whatsoever. It could, of course, be argued that the Ariya will excel in town, given its steering and supple low-speed suspension, but unless you've got two very tall and also very lazy teenagers in your household who demand you drive them everywhere, then if you live in an urban area and you want an EV, you're going to be far better off with something like a Hyundai Inster or Renault's glorious new 5 E-Tech. The Ariya should be better out of town than it is in it, given its size and price.

Value

At less than £40,000, the Nissan Ariya certainly looks competitive for an electric SUV like this. However, as we've already ascertained, we'd not even bother looking at the 63kWh variant and would instead go straight for the 87kWh cars, or possibly even the 435hp Nismo that's just joined the range, for a little more excitement and usability. In which case, your Ariya is going to be £45,000 and upwards, any way you cut it; the Nismo is nigh-on 57 grand before options.

At least the standard specification of the Advance model is generous to make up for the asking prices. Alongside an extensive advanced driver assist safety (ADAS) package, including radar cruise control, and the twin 12.3-inch screens inside, there are also luxuries such as a 360-degree camera system, wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, a wireless smartphone charger, LED exterior lights all round, a heated front windscreen and auto-folding door mirrors, a powered tailgate, 19-inch wheels, dual-zone climate control, a heat pump, front and rear parking sensors, LED ambient interior lighting, heated front seats and a heated leather steering wheel too, and a frameless rear-view mirror fitted from the factory, among much more.

Verdict

The big problem with the Nissan Ariya is its parent manufacturer's own 'early adopter' status. Having got in with the Leaf fully 15 years ago and then made everyone wait more than a decade for the follow-up electric hit, you kind of expect the Ariya to be a world-beater as a result. But this is a very clear case of 'difficult second-album syndrome'. As an electric SUV, the Ariya is acceptable and above average, and if you're a brand-loyalist or you've got a Nissan dealership just down the road from where you live, then you'll likely end up with this vehicle by default if you're after a modern EV.

But, certainly in this basic 63kWh specification, it does precisely nothing that we can think of that sets it clearly ahead of and apart from a whole host of well-established competitors, many of which come from manufacturers which boarded the EV bus long after Nissan did. In other words, the Ariya feels 'phoned in' and as if EV development in the last decade has passed Nissan by; granted, the SUV might be a bit more exciting as an e-4orce, but that's considerably more expensive again. As it is, we're rather underwhelmed by the Nissan Ariya 63kWh, and we suspect quite a few potential customers will be too.



Matt Robinson - 16 Jan 2025



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2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.

2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.2025 Nissan Ariya 63kWh UK test. Image by Nissan.








 

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