Writing: Nange
In the era of electrification, Japanese brands in the electric vehicle industry are not completely flat.
Believe it or not, in this age of electrification, Chinese brands have risen up as a huge threat to joint venture brands, especially in the field of pure electric vehicles. We can easily find that the joint venture brands that used to have advantages have also gradually begun to feel a sense of crisis.
Even Toyota and Honda, who have always ignored pure electric vehicles, have all entered this field. However, it is regrettable that these Japanese brands that have been dominant in fuel and hybrid power fields seem to have given us answers that are not satisfactory in the field of electric vehicles.
Just when we thought that Japanese brands might be “killed” off, it came.
The Most Electrifying Nissan
Different from “Lianga Honda”, Nissan is one of the traditional car companies in the world that first embraced pure electric vehicles. Its Nissan Leaf series, launched in 2010, was the most popular pure electric vehicle in the world for a long time.
As new energy vehicles experience explosive growth, for Dongfeng Nissan in the Chinese market, if it wants to compete with increasingly high-end Chinese brands with only the affordable Nissan Leaf, it is obviously not possible. It is precisely under this background that Nissan’s first global strategic model, ARIYA, was born.
In the design of pure electric vehicles, Nissan, which has long been experienced, does not need to test the waters with a series of “oil to electricity” products like other joint venture brands. Instead, it directly builds the ARIYA, a new car positioned as Nissan’s pure electric all-around flagship, based on the “CMF-EV” professional pure electric platform.
Very Nissan, But Not Quite Nissan
As early as last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show, Nissan had already announced some basic information about the ARIYA, but it took 10 months for us to finally have the opportunity to experience this most important new car from Nissan in Qinhuangdao.
And since ARIYA is a new generation Nissan model, it is sure to change people’s inherent perceptions of Dongfeng Nissan in some places.
For example, in terms of appearance, ARIYA is more trendy and bold than any Nissan model we have seen before. The narrow and long headlights and the folded daytime running lights give ARIYA a strong recognition. The design language that “distinguishes from existing fuel models” also indicates the ambition of this car.
On the other hand, while adopting a fully enclosed front face, Dongfeng Nissan still retains the traditional grille shape for ARIYA. After all, for mainstream consumers, especially the main audience of Japanese brands, ARIYA’s trendy and non-subversive front face will be more acceptable.
In terms of the shape of the side of the car, ARIYA also has streamlined lines that are different from ordinary SUVs. The downward sloping roof and higher window line create a strong sense of motion on the whole side of the car.
In terms of size, although ARIYA’s external dimensions are not outstanding, with the body dimensions of 4630/1900/1658mm, it is only at the level of a compact SUV. But with the support of the pure electric platform, ARIYA has a super-long wheelbase of 2775mm, which also makes the entire car present a “four-wheel-square” posture.
However, you don’t need to worry that this dynamic styling will affect ARIYA’s interior space. After all, it is a Nissan, and the riding experience is naturally not to be “sacrificed”.With the help of a long wheelbase, a flat floor, and Nissan’s biggest killer—the Zero Gravity seat, the ARIYA provides excellent seating comfort in both the front and rear seats. Even in the age of electric cars, buyers who require ample space and comfort are still the biggest “basic models” for Japanese brands.
Technology Nissan, Comeback
Perhaps the sales volume of its “vegetable shopping car” was too good, or perhaps Infiniti’s presence was too weak, or maybe the performance king GT-R has not been updated for too long. The once-touted “Technology Nissan” seems to be less mentioned in recent years.
However, on the ARIYA, Dongfeng Nissan clearly wants to regain everyone’s impression of Japanese brands as high-end and technological.
First of all, in the interior design, the ARIYA has designed everything to be more technological while retaining ease of use. For example, the light touch button on the wood grain panel can not only show a sense of luxury, but also allow you to touch high-end materials.
In order to further highlight its luxury, ARIYA even has an electrically adjustable center armrest. Yes, even the front and rear movement of the center armrest is electrically adjusted. This kind of “can be done but not necessary” design is the best way to demonstrate the luxury of a car.
In terms of the machinery, Dongfeng Nissan equipped the ARIYA with front and rear dual motors, two 178 kW motors that can provide extremely rapid response and acceleration. During the on-site test drive, the powerful power even made you unable to believe that this is a Nissan family car.
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In addition, ARIYA is also equipped with the e-4ORCE Snow Fox electric four-wheel drive system from ARIYA. Even when a single tire experiences low traction, the vehicle can still achieve smooth acceleration under intelligent power allocation. The dynamic performance presented by ARIYA is definitely difficult to find on other Nissan models in recent years.
As for the indispensable intelligent driving assistance on new energy vehicles nowadays, ARIYA is not absent as well. The ProPILOT super-intelligent driving Pro system can provide L2+ level intelligent driving assistance, providing follow-stop function in the full-speed domain, and the S-ALC intelligent assisted lane change system can even help drivers safely change lanes in some scenarios.
A masterpiece of Nissan’s transformation
ARIYA’s birth is an important step for Nissan to keep up with the trend of electrification, and it is also an essential step. Indeed, before seeing the actual car, we were concerned that Nissan might come up with an “Electric X-Trail” like other Japanese brands to deceive Chinese consumers, but after experiencing it, we found that such concerns were obviously unnecessary.
Although ARIYA will still face challenges from domestic Chinese brands and competitors such as Tesla in the future, I am not sure whether this “alternative Nissan that pursues refinement and sophistication” can become a bestseller, but at least ARIYA’s appearance has shown us that Japanese brands in the era of electrification have not completely lost their edge.
If ARIYA can define a price point with sufficient competitiveness in the future, then, given its product strength and brand appeal, new players may encounter quite a strong opponent.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.