Nissan Ariya ELECTRIC SUV arrives – the LEAF finally has an SUV sibling

The Nissan Ariya – the production version of the Ariya Concept – arrives pretty much unchanged and with up to 389bhp and 4WD.

A sibling for the Nissan LEAF has been a long time coming, but now it’s here as the production version of the Nissan Ariya is revealed ahead of landing in showrooms next year. It looks convincing.

Sitting on a new electric platform, the Ariya neatly brings together Nissan’s two big defining successes in the last 20 years – the Qashqai and LEAF – in one convincing package, and a range of powertrain options to suit budgets and wants.

The looks of the AAriya has changed in only small ways from the concept, so it’s still a quite striking coupe SUV with a long wheelbase and looks which are more ‘LEAF SUV’ than mainstream Nissan.

But beyond the quite striking looks it’s what’s under the skin that matters, and Nissan hasn’t been shy about covering all the bases with two battery sizes, a range of power outputs up to 389bhp and the option of 2WD or 4WD.

Starting point is a front-wheel drive Ariya with 215bhp, 65kWh battery and 233-mile range followed by 239bhp FWD version with a 90kWh battery and 310-mile range.

If you want 4WD in the Ariya, which you do, then there’s a choice of three with a 275bhp version with the 63kWh battery and a range of 211 miles and a 302bhp version with the 87kWh battery good for 285 miles.

But there’s also a performance version, an it comes with the 87kWh battery and 389bhp, good for 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds and a range of 248 miles.

Inside the Ariya there’s a new design direction for Nisan too, with the dashboard dominated by a pair of 12.3″ screens – one for instruments, one for infotainment – with voice control (including a ‘Hey Nissan’ digital assistant), and buttons replace by haptic feedback touch controls across the dash. There’s also always-on 4G, OTA and Smartphone integration.

The rest of the interior, as well as being spacious, features clean looks and high quality materials, with decent boot space (although less on 4WD models).

No word on prices for the Ariya yet, but we’d imagine Nissan will want to have a starting price around £35k, although the top end version could well be knocking on the door of £50k.