2021 Nissan Ariya: First Look

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• The Nissan Ariya is a new all-electric crossover SUV
• 300 miles of driving range
• Priced “around $40,000” according to Nissan
• “Hands-off” automated driving in some circumstances

You might remember the IMx, the concept car that Nissan showed off back in 2017. At this year’s Tokyo Auto Show, Nissan introduced the all-new Nissan Ariya Concept, then followed that up with the production version in July of 2020.  The Nissan Ariya is an electric crossover SUV that kicks off the next chapter in Nissan vehicles. The company even has a new logo.

If Nissan can bring the Ariya to the market in a timely fashion, it could seriously compete with the  Tesla Model Y, Toyota RAV4 Prime, and Ford‘s Mustang-inspired electric crossover.

How Fast, How Far, How Much?

The Ariya will be available for sale as early as the fall of 2021. Nissan says the range of 300 miles is a “preliminary Nissan estimate for the long-range 2WD model.” That’s kind of a loaded statement because it tells us that there will be an all-wheel-drive version, which Nissan has confirmed. It also tells us that there will be varying models with different ranges, likely, costing more or less depending on how far you want to go on a single charge. That “around $40,000 price” will probably be for the base model. Based on Nissan’s reinvention of itself, that base model will probably include some premium features with the option to add more.

0-to-60 mph time should be under 5 seconds.

Here’s What We Know

We know the physical dimensions of the Ariya — the crossover will be pretty similar to the Nissan Rogue compact crossover, but it’ll be wider and lower to the ground, which gives it a decidedly more athletic stance. It’s a 2-row, 5-passenger crossover. Buyers will have the choice of front-wheel drive or “e-4FORCE” all-wheel drive. Nissan describes e-4FORCE like this: “The e-4FORCE balances the powerful performance with a smooth, comfortable ride and all-weather capability. The system’s twin electric motors provide balanced, assured handling with sports car-level power.”

Over-the-air firmware, Amazon Alexa, Android Auto, and Apple Car Play are all on board as are Nissan’s excellent Zero-Gravity seats.

Nissan says the Ariya is the beginning of a new look for the brand. The exterior is interesting and the front plays off of the V-Motion grille shared by most Nissan models, but we’re more interested in the interior. It’s very minimalist — the 12.3-in screen has just one physical knob, and the rest of the controls appear to be via either touchscreen or haptic feedback. There’s also a prominent digital driver information display rather than a traditional gauge cluster. It’s a sleek and clean look that we hope to see in future production Nissans.

Safety

In addition to the next generation ProPilot Assist 2.0, the Ariya gets a bunch of standard safety equipment. Nissan Safety Shield 360 is standard and that includes automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, rear automatic braking, lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, high-beam assist, and Nissan’s around-view monitor.

Nissan is also promising ProPilot 2.0, the next step in Nissan’s semi-autonomous driver assistance technology suite, on the production-model Ariya. The suite will include hands-free highway driving, similar to what you can find with the Cadillac Super Cruise system. No production Nissan available in the U.S. is equipped with ProPilot 2.0 yet, so it’s possible that the Ariya will introduce that tech to American buyers.

The Leaf Needs a Friend

The Nissan Leaf was one of the first all-electric cars from a mainstream automaker. That was 10 years ago. When the Ariya hits the market, it’ll be nice to see the Leaf finally get an SUV counterpart that hopefully delivers similarly strong value. Find a Nissan for sale

Here are the key 2021 Nissan Ariya specs we know: