Pushed back its launch to this fall. Were in Nashville with Nissan, and we finally get a chance to drive the automakers. First, all electric SUV. Lets see if it was worth the wait. upbeat music, So the Ariya is around the same size as a Nissan Rogue, but its styling is much different.. Its short hood and long sloping roof line, bring some visual drama, as do its diagonal headlights and large, gaping face., The sharply raked C pillar flows into this deck lid and its split by a pretty cool. Looking horizontal taillight.. Overall, the profile is a really sleek look. Broken up by a couple of things like chunky, rear, fenders and this big wing., I think overall, the look works but from the drivers, seat, visibility, suffers., Just about the only thing I dont like from behind the wheel, is the rear, visibility. Theres, a camera that blocks The view. Theres also the sloping rear roof line that makes it hard to see backwards. Other than that the Ariya is really comfortable on the road and has great road manners., So Im driving the Ariya about 30 miles south of Nashville on a variety of different roads. From really big highways to these beautiful small winding two lane roads and it feels at home in all scenarios., The Ariya is biased toward comfort in terms of ride and handling and feels overall composed and stable.. It wont win any handling awards, but natural feeling steering and good maneuverability help.

If youre, comparing the Ariya to a gas powered SUV itll, feel super quick thanks to near instant electric torque. Compared with other EVs, though its adequately peppy from a stop and strong mid range.. Its regenerative brakes have a solid but natural feel, but the e Pedal setup will take some getting used. To. Push a button on the console to engage the system.. It allows the car to brake when your foot leaves the accelerator pedal from maximum energy recapture.. Unlike the Nissan Leaf, however, it doesnt brake down to a full stop. Theres, still a little bit of creep.. I find that odd. Since the Leaf has true one pedal driving., The Ariya will be available in several trims with front wheel, drive or all wheel drive and two types of batteries, a standard range 63 kilowatt hour battery or a long range 87 kilowatt hour. Battery.. The long range battery is EPA estimated for 304 miles of max range in front wheel, drive models, but the standard battery delivers much less. Its good for 216 miles with front wheel. Drive. All wheel, drive range estimates have not yet been announced for this battery.. It competes against the Mustang Mach E, which has EPA estimated range of 247 miles to 314 miles, depending on battery size and trim.. It also goes against the Volkswagen ID.4, which gets between 208 and 275 miles of range, depending on equipment.. All versions come with standard features. Such as Nissans Safety, Shield, 360 suite of safety systems.

, The ProPILOT driver assistance system, which allows for hands off eyes on driving, is available.. It works on mapped highways and will even make lane changes. Compared with General Motors system Super Cruise its a little different because with Super Cruise, you dont have to have your hands on the wheel to make the lane changes. But with Nissans system you do. The Ariya seats, five and in the front seat it feels very spacious even for a taller driver.. The overall vibe in here is very airy, very open and very kinda minimalistic.. The look really works and I really appreciate the kinda straightforwardness of everything.. There are a couple of weird quirks, but overall I think they work well.. One is small item. Storage. Youd think that this would be a big space, but its actually a pretty small space here.. The biggest space is this tray that kinda powers down with the touch of a button and opens up a really large space for small stuff. Ill, also have to power that back. Down here. This is all open which is kind of not something you see every day. You can fit a purse or a bag down here. Speaking of down here, theres. Also, this ambient mood lighting throughout the whole cabin. Its on the doors its by the feet.. It just kind of creates this really modern cool vibe. Controls are also a little bit different, but again, I think they work and theyre overall, pretty straightforward and easy.

Theres a lot of touch sensitive controls here, which are generally hit or miss.. These are hip. When you touch them, they make kind of a noise and they give you haptic feedback. So you know whats, happening., Theyre, really responsive, clearly marked.. If you need more climate controls theyre in the screen., The screen itself is also very bright, very responsive and just easy to reach.. On the kinda strange side is this gear selector.? It is not traditional at all. It took a little bit of getting used to.. Also, these touch sensitive buttons down here are not as responsive as the climate control up here., These control drive modes. They control the one pedal braking.. So lastly, one other kinda cool gimmick is that this console powers back and forward depending on comfort.. So if you wan na open up this big space for whatever a larger bag or theres, you know the charging ports down here, you can power it all the way, back. Not super comfortable, but opens up a huge space.. If you wan na power it forward. Itll, do that and itll go all the way forward. Lining up your elbow with this padding. Overall Im really impressed with the screen. Setup. Theres two 12 inch screens. One is kind of concave and it is in front of the driver and one is kind of convex, and it is right here for all of your navigation and multimedia. Android. Auto Apple CarPlay is standard, as is Amazon Alexa, which is kind of a really cool driver.

Helper. One problem is that wireless Android, Auto is not available.. You can do wireless Apple CarPlay, but not wireless Android Auto., So that is one demerit against it. Other than that. The menus are really easy and straightforward to use.. The screen is really responsive. Overall, its real straightforward.. In back, I have loads of leg. Room. Taller people might need a little bit more headroom. At 56. Im fine, but the sloping rear roof line, kinda cuts into that.. One cool feature about the backseat: is these latch anchors for car seat connection.? They are under a really neat flap, so for easy, accessibility and theres, an extra anchor in the middle position.. So if your car seat allows sharing anchors youre able to put a car seat in the middle position using the latch, anchors. Thats, not something that you see in every car. In back, the cargo area is pretty large.. Nissan, says: theres about 59 cubic feet of space. Back here and the opening is pretty wide. One nice feature is this cargo management system that allows you to store smaller items under the floor. One. Last cargo note: there is no frunk or front trunk, like other EVs have. Nissan says its to make room for all of that space. In the front where I said you could put like a larger bag or a purse., The 2023 Nissan Ariya starts around 44000. For the base Engage trim with the standard battery and front wheel drive.

That model with all wheel drive starts at around 48000. Variants. With the long range battery and front wheel, drive start at around 48000.. All wheel drive bumps that to around 52000., The Ariya lineup tops out at 61485 for the highest trim with the long range battery and all wheel, drive. Front wheel, drive models go on sale later this fall, but Nissan said all wheel. Drive versions have been delayed until spring of 2023.. Nissan was an electric car pioneer with the Leaf, so its no surprise that the Ariya is good.. What is surprising is that it took the automaker this long to launch an all electric SUV. For more information on the Ariya and its competitors visit cars.com. Crew Member.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv4YXdrsKGE