Nissan Ariya Nismo

FIRST DRIVE Applying a legendary Japanese performance brand name to an electric SUV is a bold move, but it works - to a certain degree, at least

- Steve Sutcliffe

AEX WE rate the Nissan Ariya at Auto Express. It's a strong electric SUV that offers space, style, quality and value in equal measure, and it's an engaging car to drive, too. So much so, that we voted it our outright Car Of The Year in 2022.

Presumably, then, a Nismo version with more performance, plus sharper handling and looks, should be peachy, shouldn't it? The answer is yes, and no.

Yes, because the Nismo Ariya does indeed look tastier and goes harder than the standard car thanks to its potent twin electric motors. Although its 87kWh battery is unchanged, power rises to 429bhp from 302bhp, dropping the 0-62mph time to 5.0 seconds (from 5.7sec). Torque is unchanged at 600Nm.

No, because compared with rivals such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Kia's EV6 GT and the Tesla Model Y Performance, the Nismo's performance is lagging behind. Nissan says it's because the car is more of a VW ID.5 rival, hence its competitive £56,620 price.