Nissan Ariya Review & Prices

The Ariya is Nissan’s all-electric, mid-sized SUV, and it’s actually rather good. It combines handsome looks and a neat interior with plenty of standard kit and a stress-free driving experience, though it could do with a bigger boot and it’s more expensive than some rather excellent alternatives.

Think of the Ariya as a family dinner at Franco Manca. It sits somewhere in the middle of the posh/price scale when compared to gourmet, more expensive cars like the Tesla Model Y and Audi Q4 e-tron, or the cheaper - but still rather excellent - M&S meal deal Skoda Elroq.

And though the Ariya isn’t as expensive as some of its alternatives, it may well be the best looking of the mid-sized electric SUV bunch. It’s ultra-sleek, with slim LED headlights part of a large, slick, gloss black panel on the curvaceous front end. In fact the whole car is full of crisp, minimalist and swoopy creases; Tesla could learn a thing or two about design from Nissan.

Nissan Ariya: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 247 - 330 miles
Efficiency: 3.1mi/kWh - 3.5mi/kWh
Battery size: 63kWh / 87kWh
Max charge speed: 130kW
Charge time DC: 35mins, 20-80%, 130kW / 40mins, 20-80%, 130kW
Charge port location: Right side front
Power outputs: 218hp / 242hp / 306hp / 394hp

The interior is another highlight, because Nissan has simplified things just enough without it looking boring or devoid of character. You get a plush, upholstered dashboard which wraps around onto the door cards and a pair of displays in a single, neat unit perched on top. The climate controls are touch-sensitive icons on the lower dashboard panel, and while they look tidy, they’re annoying to use.

You’ve got plenty of room to get comfortable up front, and the Aria has some handy storage solutions like a big, sliding, felt-lined drawer beneath the dashboard and good-sized door bins. While there’s loads of legroom in the back, the Ariya’s sloping roofline does cut into headroom a bit; particularly tall adults will find their head brushing the headlining.

The 466-litre boot isn’t as big as the Audi Q4 (520 litres) or Volkswagen ID4 (543 litres), but it’s just about on par with the Skoda Elroq’s 470-litre boot - unless you go for the four-wheel drive Ariya, which loses almost 60 litres of boot space to fit an electric motor in the rear.

Nissan offers two battery options with the Ariya, the smaller of which will get you around 250 miles of claimed range, while the larger option can travel as far as 330 miles. A standard-fit heat pump helps conserve battery, especially when it’s cold, but the Ariya is on par with most of its alternatives when it comes to range and efficiency. Charge rate is slower than most though, taking 35 minutes to go from 20-80% charge on a fast charger.

On the road the Ariya is slightly less comfortable than most of its alternatives, and you get jiggled about more around town than you do in a Skoda Elroq or Audi Q4. Motorways aren’t much more comfortable, as the suspension never really settles down. Country roads are more enjoyable, with little body lean and plenty of brake pedal feel.

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Nissan has priced the Ariya just right, because while it’s got the looks and interior quality to match some higher-priced alternatives, it’s not as expensive as the Audi Q4 e-tron, Tesla Model Y or Polestar 2 - and it looks better than the lot of them.

Entry-level Ariya Engage models come equipped with the smaller battery and start at just under £40,000, though you’ll pay at least £45,000 for the larger, 330-mile battery version in the same trim level. Engage cars come equipped with 19-inch alloys, LED lights, a rear-view camera and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto as standard.

The top-spec Ariya Evolve with four-wheel drive starts from around £55,000, and comes equipped with a panoramic sunroof, heated seats all round with seat cooling up front, Bose surround sound and 360-degree parking cameras. Advance spec sits in between the two, but if you want some more pep in your Ariya’s step then you can opt for the NISMO model which we’ve reviewed separately.

The Ariya is mostly smooth and refined, but it does have a tendency to jiggle over smaller bumps in the road

In town

Most electric vehicles, including the Ariya, are at their best in town, with an instant surge of power for easy pull-aways, silent running for better refinement, and low drain on the battery so your range doesn’t suddenly evaporate. However, the Ariya does have one low-speed flaw, and that’s the suspension, because it seems to jiggle and fidget about a lot over poor road surfaces. It’s nowhere near as soothing to drive as the Skoda Enyaq or the Audi Q4 e-tron.

The Ariya’s steering is nice and light, and while the turning circle isn't amazing, it’s manoeuvrable enough in tight parking bays. Forward visibility is excellent, thanks to a low-set dashboard although the door mirrors are a little small and the windscreen pillars do cause a blind spot. The view out of the back isn’t so good, as the rear glass is quite shallow and the rear pillars are very chunky, so there’s a big over-your-shoulder blind spot. There is help from a standard-fit 360-degree camera system though, which also comes with sensors, moving object detection, and emergency braking to stop you backing into things or, worse, people.

The Ariya also gets the ‘e-pedal’ system from the smaller Nissan Leaf, which uses the regenerative braking effect of the electric motor (or motors, if you’re in the four-wheel drive one) to slow the car down. Very handy around town, but unfortunately — unlike the Leaf — e-pedal mode in the Ariya doesn’t stop the car completely; you have to physically step on the brake to do that.

On the motorway

The Ariya’s suspension never quite settles down at higher speeds either – it’s not harsh but it is a bit fidgety, especially over coarse concrete motorway sections. That said, it is still broadly a comfortable car, with cosseting front seats. It’s quite refined, but you will hear some wind roar around the door mirrors and the edges of the windows, though it's not intrusive enough that you'll have to raise your voice in conversation.

The Ariya’s electronic driver aids are good though, with the ‘ProPilot’ radar-guided cruise control and the lane-guidance steering keeping you firmly and safely in lane.

On a twisty road

Despite the Ariya’s chunky kerb weight it actually corners pretty keenly. There’s very little body roll, and while you will start to feel the weight if you’re really attacking a twisty road, the Ariya copes well enough to be pretty good fun. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is much more enjoyable on a countryside jaunt, though.

The brakes have a much more natural feel than you find in most electric cars, so it's easy to judge how much pressure to apply to the pedal. Hit a mid-corner bump, though, and the Ariya's suspension skips about a bit, which can be slightly unnerving.

The Ariya is roomy and comfortable in the cabin, but it’s surprisingly short of boot space

Under the front armrest, there’s a shallow storage area that’s also home to a wireless phone charger, and there’s a couple of adjustable cupholders in front of that. Beneath the centre console, there’s a little upright tray for storing a mobile phone, along with USB and USB-C slots, and a 12-volt socket too.

There’s a conventional glovebox in front of the passenger seat, which is an okay size but the Ariya’s practicality party trick is a big felt-lined drawer in the centre of the dash, which you open by pushing a little touch-sensitive button on the console. It’s a neat bit of in-car theatre, and it’ll hold a big-ish tablet like an iPad.

You also get good-sized door bins, although they don’t get felt lining so smaller items will rattle around inside. Oh, and if you don’t like where that centre console is placed, you can actually move it — electrically — backwards and forwards to find the best spot.

Space in the back seats

There's plenty of knee room in the back, and loads of space for feet too. The rear seat cushions are nice and deep, which is good for supporting the backs of your legs on long journeys. You can get three people sitting side-by-side, but the person in the centre seat is a bit perched above the rest and won't be as comfortable as those at each side.

The line of the roof is quite low on the Ariya, which does eat into headroom in the back, but it’s not too bad — you’d have to be very tall to find your head brushing the roof lining. It’s slightly worse if you go for the optional panoramic glass roof, but either way it’s not as roomy and airy in the back as a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

High-spec Evolve models get heated rear seats, and you get two more USB sockets (one standard, one USB-C) for back seat passengers. The door bins in the back are fine, as are the seat-back pockets, and you get cup holders in the armrest.

The ISOFIX anchors are covered with annoying zip-up panels, which are fiddly to use. There is enough space for big, rear-facing child seats without having to move the front seats forward, though.

Boot space

All Ariyas get a hands-free powered tailgate, and the boot capacity is 466 litres — that’s not terrible, but it’s not as roomy as the Skoda Enyaq (585 litres) nor the Tesla Model y (854 litres). Four-wheel drive versions lose even more space, so those models get only 408 litres of luggage space. That is at least a bit more space than the Ford Mustang Mach-e (402l) and Polestar 2 (405 litres) offer.

The standard Ariya’s boot is clever though, as the moving boot floor is actually in two parts, which can be clipped up vertically to divide the boot into different sections (maybe food shopping in one bit and smelly sports kit in the other) and if you put them on their higher setting then there’s no loading lip. There are some small storage bins at the side of the boot, and tie-down points too, but you don’t get a 12-volt socket.

It's a bit fiddly getting the rear seats down, because you’ve either got to stretch in, or go around to the back doors. You do at least get a flat load space when you fold them.

Another down side is the lack of front-boot (froot), so there’s nowhere to stash your charging cables out of the way, meaning they eat into the available boot space. The Model Y, Polestar 2 and Mustang Mach-e all have extra spaces under the bonnet.

Posh car look and feel let down by dated infotainment graphics and fiddly controls

The Ariya’s cabin is just as lovely as the outside. Indeed, it might just be the best car cabin that Nissan has made in decades, and it’s so good that you could almost compare it to — mistake it for, even — the cabin of the BMW iX, which costs about twice as much.

You get a very handsome two-spoke steering wheel with lots of buttons, and some very smart-looking ‘haptic’ buttons on what looks like a slab of wood trim. These control the major air conditioning functions, but while they’re cool to look at, they're really annoying to use (and there are more of them on the centre console). They’re not as good as physical switches, but a marginally better arrangement than having the climate controls buried in the on-screen menus.

While the twin-12.3-inch screens — for your instruments and infotainment — look good in that big sweep across the dashboard, the graphics aren’t quite as sharp and the screens aren’t quite as responsive as you’d find in a Mustang Mach-E. The main digital instruments are also the same ones you’ll find in a humble Qashqai, which looks a touch cheap, although the impressive head-up display, which projects onto the windscreen, does compensate for that. The infotainment screen menus are reasonably easy to find your way through, and it's neat that the radio volume button has been neatly integrated into that big sweeping front air vent.

You do get lovely soft-touch materials everywhere though, including a gorgeous Alcantara suede covering on the dash. The seats — which you can have in optional blue Nappa leather — are great, and have a pattern of ribs which is apparently based on a NASA design to promote blood flow and reduce fatigue when you’re sitting in one place for a long time. Electric seat adjustment is standard, and there’s plenty of reach and rake adjustment for the steering wheel. On high-spec models, the steering position adjusts electrically.

Those high-spec Ariyas also get an electronic rear-view mirror, which can switch to display the view from a rear-facing camera if you’ve got tall people sat in the back, or you’ve got the boot loaded to the roof. Very handy.

The Nissan Ariya can charge at up to 130kW from a suitably fast public DC charging point. That's not terrible, but you can get versions of the Skoda Enyaq that can charge at up to 175kW, and the Tesla Model Y can top up at speeds of 250kW.

As standard, for AC charging (which means charging at home or from kerb-side chargers) the Ariya gets 7.4kW charging, which means that the big 87kWh battery could take as much as 14 hours to charge from flat. The better news is that optionally you can have 22kW AC charging, which is terrific for using kerb-side chargers but is rare to find from a home unit.

The Nissan Ariya offers an electric range of up to around 330 miles on a full charge, depending on the model and driving conditions. The 63kWh battery version has an official range of up to 250 miles, which should work out to around 200-220 miles in real world conditions most of the time. The bigger 87kWh battery extends this to a claimed 330 miles. If you go for the 'e-4orce' four-wheel drive model, then that claimed big-battery range falls to 285 miles, but your power jumps to a very healthy 306hp compared to the standard model’s 217hp, or the 242hp for the mid-range version.

In real-world testing, doing mostly motorway miles, we achieved 267 miles from the big battery version, which is about 86% of its claimed range, with efficiency of 3.2mi/kWh. This made it just as efficient as the Q4 e-tron Sportback and Mercedes EQA in our test, though it did do the highest percentage of its claimed range of the six cars it was compared with.

In terms of road tax, the Ariya is very good — free for road tax for the first year if you’re a private buyer, and incredibly low benefit-in-kind tax if you’re a company user.

The Ariya has scored the full five stars in Euro NCAP safety testing, getting 86% and 89% for adult and child occupant protection respectively. Perhaps even more impressive is its 93% rating for safety assist systems, as this tends to be one of the weaker scores for most cars.

The Ariya has lots of high-end safety equipment as standard. From the base model, you get Nissan’s ProPilot electronic driver aids, which not only do the usual keeping you in lane and keeping you a safe distance from the car in front stuff, but which is also linked to the navigation system so that it knows what corners, junctions, and speed limits are coming up. It’s not autonomous driving — nor anything like it, as you still have to be very much in control of the car at all times — but it is helpful on longer journeys, especially when you're in an unfamiliar area.

Other standard safety tech includes a driver attention alert, cruise control that can trickle you along in heavy traffic, a blind spot warning that also hits the brakes if you’re about to reverse out into oncoming traffic, emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, and automatic high-beam headlights. It’s a very thorough safety setup.

Nissan came 15th out of 31 manufacturers in the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, right in the middle, but we haven’t heard any reliability horror stories as of yet.

Nissan offers about the minimum warranty you can expect from a car company in the UK. It’s a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which means it doesn’t last as long as Hyundai’s, Kia’s or Toyota’s.

The electric drive components (that’s the battery, motor, inverter, and high-voltage cables) get a separate five-year, 60,000-mile warranty, and on top of that the battery itself gets its own eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty to repair or replace it if it drops below a certain state of charge.