After a public premiere at last year’s Nissan Next brand event, Nissan has officially opened the order books for the Nissan Ariya fully-electric crossover in Japan. In line with the current demand for online tools and services, customers can pre-order the Ariya without travelling to the dealership.
The Nissan Ariya is a breakaway from the usual Nissan design language, with the stylish crossover a combination of many Japanese aesthetics that Nissan calls Timeless Japanese Futurism.
Dimensionally similar to the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, the Nissan Ariya’s variant planning is straightforward with 2WD or AWD powertrains and two different battery sizes.
The base variant Ariya B6 2WD has 218 hp / 300 Nm and does the century sprint in 7.5 seconds and return a range of 450 km via the 63-kWh battery. A larger 87-kWh battery (or B9 naming) provides the furthest range of 610 km.
Meanwhile, the range-topping Ariya B9 AWD does the 0 to 100 km/h sprint in just 5.1 seconds thanks to the dual-motor system output of 394 hp and 600 Nm of torque. The range, all estimates, is expected to reach 580 km.
Nissan will also debut their latest electric all-wheel drive system e-4ORCE technology in the Ariya. Engineers developed the e-4ORCE technology to specifically manage electric vehicle power output, steering tracing and braking performance to be smooth and stable.
Another benefit of the e-4ORCE technology is minimising vehicle pitch and dive. This was accomplished by employing regenerative braking from both front and rear motors, making city stop-and-go traffic less jostling. Similarly, on rough, bumpy roads and when accelerating, motor control is optimized to maintain ride comfort by minimising irregular movement.
To coincide with the domestic launch, the Nissan Ariya will have a limited edition variant with two-tone paintwork (Burgundy or Shell Blonde) as well as bronze-coloured 19-inch wheel covers. Inside, the limited-edition model also gets a panoramic glass roof, a 10-speaker BOSE sound system and seats upholstered with premium Nappa leather in blue.
The luxurious floor carpets meanwhile convey both traditional Japanese beauty and a zen-like feeling from the Japanese stone garden motif. Imagine using your toes to simulate ‘raking’ of the sand while waiting to charge the Ariya. With the domestic CHAdeMo charging system at 130 kW power, 30 minutes of usage will top up about 375 km of range in the Ariya.
Cruising on the expressways is made a little easier in the Nissan Ariya with the availability of the ProPilot 2.0. Apart from hands-free single-lane cruising, the technology also supports automated lane changes, overtaking as well as highway exiting, when possible. The Nissan Ariya will also come with ProPilot Remote Park, turning the Ariya into a full-sized remote-control car.
The ProPilot Remote Park feature is only available at parking speeds, where the driver can move the Ariya into tight parking spaces while standing outside.
Pricing for the Ariya Limited Edition starts from 6.6 million Yen (approx. RM248,554) for the B6 2WD, all the way to 7.9 million Yen (approx. RM297,512) for the B9 e-4ORCE AWD. A standard variant priced from 5 million Yen (approx. RM188,299) after government subsidies will be available later.
For reference, the most popular Nissan Leaf retails at 4 million Yen and Lexus’ UX300e starts from 5.8 million Yen. The compact Honda e meanwhile starts from 4.5 million yen.
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Nissan Ariya Limited Edition
Nissan Ariya
