Nissan Ariya 2026 review: Evolve e-4orce long-term | Part 3

In the past three months I’ve spent more than 40 hours behind the wheel of the Nissan Ariya e-4orce covering more than 1300km in the process and something has become pretty obvious.

The Ariya is an all-rounder. It gets a lot of pass marks, a few please explains, but one feature is hard to ignore.

Read More About Nissan Ariya

• Nissan Ariya 2026 review: Evolve e-4orce long-term | Part 1
• Nissan Ariya 2026 review: Evolve e-4orce long-term | Part 2
• New big Chinese Nissan is hybrid and EV!

Nissan backs its cars with a conditional 10 year/300,000km warranty, which is the best in the game.

Buyer beware, though, you need to service your vehicle at a Nissan dealership for every scheduled visit or it reverts to a five-year/unlimited km guarantee.

This also applies to Nissan’s roadside assistance program that can be extended for the same 10-year period.

Nissan further sweetens the deal with a capped price servicing deal for the first five workshop visits, that will set you back $299 a pop. 

There isn’t really another area where the Ariya paces the field.

Our dual-motor Ariya has an 87kWh battery, which continually falls short of its claimed 487km driving range. We’d bank on about 400km from a full charge.

Even if we compare the claimed range with some key competitors — the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV5 and Zeekr 7X — the sub-500km limit isn’t good enough.

It also doesn’t have any cost advantages, especially against newer rivals.

Our range-topping Evolve e-4orce grade costs $71,840, before on-road costs, which is more than the Model Y Premium ($68,900), and about the same as the Kia EV5 GT-Line ($71,770) and Zeekr 7X Performance ($72,990).

The Model Y and 7X have a significantly longer range, more hi-tech features and are faster, while the EV5 is arguably more luxuriously equipped on paper.

Electric cars are meant to feel hi-tech, but the Ariya doesn’t feel much different from a petrol, diesel or hybrid SUV.

When charging there are next to no readouts to show the progress or applications to whittle away the time as you wait to fill up.

DC charging speed is okay at 130kW maximum, but well below the rate rivals can accept.

One area the Ariya does show up some of its rivals is build quality.

The Ariya we lived with no doubt had a hard life with a year’s worth of weekly media loans with often mechanically unsympathetic motoring journalists behind the wheel.

But our test car had no noticeable rattles, no heavily worn surfaces or electrical quirks.

The cabin is well put together with top-shelf material used throughout. A particular highlight is the synthetic suede material that covers the dash and door trims. It is soft to touch and breaks up the hard faux wood veneer and plastic surfaces, leaving a premium feel throughout the cabin.

It is also good to see the quality extend to the back row, which is where carmakers usually try to cut costs.

The cabin is also extremely spacious, with a completely flat floor and giant panoramic sunroof giving it a light and airy feel.

I managed to fit two child seats — one front and one rear facing — with ease and the back row has its own aircon vents and charging ports for older passengers.

There is a lack of storage options up front. The two narrow glove boxes in the dash are handy, but the top deck of the centre console only has two cupholders and a wireless phone charger with no easily accessible spots for nick-nacks.

The boot is on the smaller side. A full size pram will take up most of the space and you’ll likely have to take out the parcel shelf to fit it.

For a weekend adventure up the coast I made do with a plane-compatible pram, a range of overnight bags and some totes. Some smaller items needed to be fitted on the front passenger seat floor.

As with most electric cars there is no spare tyre, with owners forced to make do with a fiddly repair kit. It simply isn’t good enough for a family car.

On the road the Ariya is a solid performer. 

It exerts great body control through the corners thanks to all the weight of the battery under the floor.

Over consistent bumps on the road that weight can get very unsettled, with suspension struggling to keep the car’s circa 2200kg mass in check. A brief drive of the single motor version previously showed a more settled and comfortable ride, thanks to its lighter weight.

That weight also dulls its performance. Despite its 320kW and 600Nm the Ariya Evolve e-4orce completes the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint time in 5.6 seconds.

I’m okay with that, as this is a family SUV not a potent performance car. So, I would say its performance is right where it needs to be.

There are several drive modes, including 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport' that can adjust how the power is delivered and the bite of the regenerative braking.

The single pedal drive mode — called 'e-pedal' in Nissan speak — is a winner. It allows you to drive with just the accelerator pedal, where you push down to go and lift off to stop. It is easy to get used to and the increased regenerative braking will help add more juice to the battery while you come to a stop.

2026 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD 

Acquired: December 2025

Distance travelled this month: 300km

Odometer: 7042km

Average energy consumption this month: 21.5kWh/100km