Nissan Ariya Nismo
VIDEOS
By Tim Saunders
If a large, spacious car is your main requirement then you can’t go wrong with the Nissan Ariya Nismo luxury SUV. Five occupants can sit in comfort, stretch their legs and watch the world go by. Fold the rear seat down and there’s a cavernous space that will swallow a 6ft door. Tech addicts will be sure to love everything about it from the touchscreen to the power heated front seats and wing mirrors. And don’t forget about all the lights inside and out.
I take my son, Henry, to football training one evening and there’s a torrential downpour for the entire hour. So when we return to the car, cold and damp, I’ve also got really cold hands. The heated front seats and heated steering wheel soon get me feeling better, although try as I might I cannot find a way of directing warm air to my feet. This is a common problem in my experience of electric cars.
When it’s delivered it is 74 per cent charged giving a range of 161 miles. Fully charged it’s expected to travel 247 miles. It’s parked on the road directly outside my house so I move it on to our driveway, metres away. I leave it until the following morning and when I push the start button to go on the school run the range reading has instantly plummeted to 154 miles. Ouch. These readings can relate to previous journeys and change accordingly but that doesn’t help me. Fortunately, I am only using it for local driving. “That’s what they’re best for,” says fellow football dad, Dan.
The Nismo has a clever e-pedal, which when engaged uses energy efficiently, with some motorists claiming that it even increases range. Basically, there’s little need to use the brake when this is engaged because the car automatically brakes when the driver’s foot is taken off the accelerator. Apparently this device is best used in crawling town traffic.
“It looks just like a VW,” announces my nine year old son, Henry, when he returns from school to find it. He has to dash out and give it the once over. “It’s nice,” he concludes. To me it looks like a cross between a Qashqai and a VW.
It’s easy to drive, with a simple push button start and an automatic gearbox. Whenever you walk past it with the key the car unlocks and the wing mirrors unfold. This is all very well but has me worrying about the battery charge. This is the major problem I have with these vehicles and it’s not getting any better; they are loaded with energy guzzling features from power heated seats to electric windows and so many lights it’s like the Blackpool illuminations. To me it doesn’t make sense. But this is a luxury electric car so I suppose such owners embrace these fancy frivolous features.
We like the sectional flooring in the boot that is easy to remove and clean if necessary. The textured plastic and luxury fabric on the dash is appealing and the seats are supportive and comfy.
Overall, the Nismo has grown on me over time with me looking more favourably at it as I say au revoir.
Facts at a glance
