This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this folio. Terms of use.

LAS VEGAS – Nissan at CES 2020 took the wraps off a successor, or more likely big brother, to the best-selling, now recently boring-selling Nissan Leaf EV. Information technology'southward called the Nissan Ariya Concept. It gets upwardly to 300 miles of range and is a crossover/hatchback where the Leaf is a sedan. Think of the Ariya (pronounced similar the musical term) every bit existence a more sculpted, more current Nissan Rogue, and electrified.

Nissan will use the 2d generation of its ProPilot Assistance self-driving technology, which provides Level three hands-off driving for conditional automation. It'due south roughly equivalent to Cadillac Super Cruise. We expect prices will start around $40,000 for the Ariya, assuming that'southward its bodily name. The car is far enough along that even with the "concept" suffix on the proper noun, this is a practiced idea of what it should wait like.

Side view of the Nissan Ariya concept. It'due south about the size of the Nissan Rogue and more aerodynamic based on the image.

Nissan says the Ariya is four inches shorter than the Rogue (not Rogue Sport) and 3 inches wider, making information technology 181 inches long and 75 inches wide. That places information technology inside the realm of compact rather than subcompact vehicles. The feds classify vehicles by interior volume. But generally, a meaty SUV is considered to be 180-190 inches long, while a subcompact is 160-170 inches. The current Foliage is 176 inches long and 71 inches wide.

Nissan suggests range would be about 300 miles. The second-generation Nissan Leafage is rated at 226 miles. There should exist iii models, S, SV, and SL, with prices of almost $xl,000 to $45,000. Nissan suggests 0-lx mph acceleration could be under half-dozen seconds.

The dash and interior of the new Nissan Ariya, correct-manus-drive version. Note the clean menses of the dashboard lines.

Where the Foliage drives the forepart wheels but, the Ariya will offer all-wheel bulldoze, with motors both forepart and rear. Nissan calls technology east-4orce (pronounced "due east-force"). Information technology'south not articulate if all Ariyas get e-Strength or if it's a stride-upwards pick. Since so many EVs are sold in California, AWD may not be necessary on all Us vehicles. According to Takao Asami, Nissan's senior vice president of research and advanced applied science:

The eastward-4ORCE twin-motor all-bicycle control technology offers precise treatment and stability, which gives drivers greater conviction and even more excitement than always before. This applied science enables excellent cornering performance and traction on glace surfaces and comfortable ride for all passengers.

Nissan too says the modulated use of regenerative braking volition minimize pitch and dive.

The cockpit of the Nissan Ariya cockpit.

Since the Ariya plays closer to the Tesla Model iii, with Tesla's generally well-regarded AutoPilot system, ProPilot ii.0 should brand the Nissan entry more competitive. ProPilot two.0 is described every bit Level 3 autonomy, meaning: a) self-driving b) on some roads (typically interstates and other express-access roads), but c) you lot have to keep your eyes on the road (they'll be tracked by a monitor), and most chiefly d) you lot'll need to take over control when you, say, exit the highway but also if the car cannot cope with a complex driving state of affairs. This is a challenge, and not simply for Nissan. Existence hands-off might invite inattention, but the handoff might come on curt notice. It'south still a gray area of how much discover the machine tin can requite the commuter where the driving situation changes all of a sudden.

ProPilot 2.0 features would include:

  • Automated emergency braking and pedestrian detection
  • Lane departure alarm, lane keep assistance, and lane centering help
  • Adaptive prowl control with finish and go

Other than Chevrolet Bolt EV, the Nissan Leaf is the all-time-selling non-Tesla EV in the US. Merely sales are off 60 percent from their 2014 height. The Ariya can't come too shortly.

Help Arrives for the Beleaguered Leaf

Among EVs, the Nissan Leaf is a best-seller, with near a one-half-one thousand thousand sales worldwide since arriving in late 2010 as a 2011 model. U.s.a. sales peaked in 2014 at 30,200, fell for two years, recovered with the arrival of the second-generation Leaf in 2018, and and then fell 16 per centum in 2019. Over the Leaf's nine-and-a-fraction years in the Usa, it has sold 141,907 vehicles, or about xvi,000 a twelvemonth.

Against the Leaf's 12,365 agenda-year-2019 sales, Inside EVs estimated the Tesla Model three sold 47,275 units, about 4x what the Foliage sold, and much smaller numbers for the Model Ten SUV (5,500 estimated) and Model South (3,750). Thus Nissan's need and want for a somewhat bigger vehicle than the Foliage and one with that magic 300-mile range. No matter how much automakers say range anxiety is overrated, buyers say they want the range to be equivalent to what y'all get from a tank of gasoline, meaning 300 miles or more than.

Information technology's not clear if the Ariya replaces the Leaf or slots one level above. The two are non actually comparable in size or operation. But with Leaf sales downward into the low teens, it's unclear if the Leaf as of 2020 is running out of gas.

Now read:

  • CES 2020 Limo for One: BMW Renders the i3 Into an Urban Suite
  • For Self-Driving Cars, Lidar Amps Up at CES 2020
  • Hands Off With Ambarella's Camera-Only Self-Driving Machine Tech