Nissan knows what they’re doing by now with electric vehicles. So much so, that even a combination of alphanumeric titling is maybe the most exciting effort they put forth on their products. That’s not to call their latest offering to the EV community as “boring” per se. It’s really more or less just another crossover that doesn’t need to break barriers because it follows the path pretty kindly and correctly. It’s especially evident that the car that is being driven is nothing less than a front-wheel drive vehicle. The Ariya is one of the newest cars to come from Nissan. It’s all just a reliable electric vehicle that maybe you have to trust may be overtaken by Tesla as far as excitement goes. But there are redeeming qualities.
What are the redeeming qualities the 2023 Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE?
Nissan certainly knows what they’re putting out there in the Ariya. They mean business with the car, but the car might be a tired example of an artificial intelligence that is realizing it’s just another car off the conveyer belt. Who really knows how exciting that single-electric motor can be if it only drives the front wheels to a speed of about 238 horsepower. Yet, at about 7.5 seconds, to see it go to 60 miles per hour, may not be as exciting as other electric vehicles may be able to offer. This all is included with the addition of the all-wheel-drive model. Which in itself can add a secondary electric motor, that pushes the rear wheels while also increasing the total horsepower to about 335 ponies in only Engage mode and even further in other trims.
This being exemplified perfectly in the Platinum+, Evolve+ and Engage+ trims as it gains on about 389 horsepower. Additionally, the Platinum+ allows the Ariya to hit about 60 miles per hour in only 5.0 seconds. At that rate, you can reach a quarter-mile in distance in only 13.4 seconds at about 108 miles per hour. It’s a huge plus that can give you the lift-off you need when you surpass stop lights and highway passing in an enjoyable manner. With more power, Ariya can only hope that their AWD will be more amazing than their FWD. Alas, the only revolutionary factoid out of all this is how the Ariya e-4ORCE has significant improvements made on the AWD’s skidpad testing. Platinum+ allows a return of 0.86 g’s when compared to the Empower+ and it’s 0.85 g’s give-off.
In the Sport driving mode, there’s nothing more disappointing than yet another car giving off an artificial whirr to entice skeptics that an EV is just as manly-sounding as an internal combustion engine. Like that does anything for road etiquette. The AWD does make good use of brakes, in terms of sticking to the asphalt during tremendous rainfall or other bad scenarios of friction. But that’s about the most exciting it is at keeping still during moments of chaos.
With dual-motor all-wheel-drive EVs, it will be a hit-or-miss situation. Some cars will be absolutely excellent. And others? A little too “e-4ORCE-ful.”
