Nissan Ariya vs Tesla Model 3

What's the difference?

I can see how the Nissan Ariya would have changed the game if it launched in Australia back in 2022.

While it is a solid car that’s quiet, comfort-oriented and tech-heavy, there’s now little separating it from the competition apart from the fact it has a Nissan badge and a cracking aftersales package. This is disappointing as we’ve waited a long time for this car to arrive.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accomodation meals provided.

The Model 3 Performance is one of those cars that’s undeniably impressive in almost every way, and hugely fast in absolutely every way, and yet can somehow still leave you feeling slightly cold. Or at least damp with fear sweat.

It’s not my kind of sports car, but if you love speed, and EVs, and Tesla, you’re gong to think it’s the Queen Bee’s knees.

Publishers: Please place the following in BOLD after the verdict:

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

Back when the Ariya was revealed, it started a new design language for Nissan, but five years later almost every model in the Japanese carmaker’s line-up has taken some element of this car’s design.

What this means is while the Ariya was unique, it now doesn’t stand out from the crowd as much as it once did. This doesn’t help given there are now so many competitors out there.

However, in person the exterior of this car is stunning. I’m particularly a fan of the two-tone copper paint available on the Advance+ and Evolve e-4orce.

At the front there is a slim and striking LED lighting set-up that stands out, plus the gloss black faux grille is an interesting take on the brand’s ‘V-Motion’ grille. It has illuminated sections that are only noticeable in dark conditions.

Around the side the Ariya appears to be a lot more coupe-like than you’d expect. There’s a body line that runs from the A-pillar all the way to the tailgate. It gives the car a floating roof effect, which is a current design trend.

Other notable design elements on the side include the charge flap on the passenger side front quarter panel, aero covers for the alloy wheels, and an extensive use of gloss black around the wheel arches and door sills. It’ll be interesting to see how the latter hold up in the long run.

At the back there isn’t a whole heap going on beyond the large rear spoiler, which is intricately designed and there to improve aerodynamics.

There’s also a full-width LED light bar for the tail-lights, which is sandwiched by a Nissan wordmark badge. These lighting set-ups are so common now that they’re a little cliche.

Inside, the Ariya is befitting of its flagship status for the Nissan brand. In the top-spec Evolve trim with the blue Nappa leather upholstery and suede dash highlights. I don’t think it pairs well with every exterior paint colour, but it still looks great.

This also isn’t to belittle the lesser trims. While they have darker interiors, this is likely more preferable for many buyers as they’re less out there. The materials, at least in the Advance+, are still at a high quality.

The steering wheel is leather-wrapped and feels buttery soft in the hand. While I loathe the fact there are gloss-black covers over the physical buttons on the steering wheel, it’s still a step in the right direction.

Ahead of the driver are dual 12.3-inch screens across the line-up. It took me a while to notice there’s a wave between the screens as it’s covered by the steering wheel rim. The touchscreen is incrementally closer so you can reach it more easily.

Another major element of the Ariya’s interior design is the centre console. In the Advance+ and Evolve it has electric sliding adjustment, allowing you to customise the position to your desire.

The use of the faux wood trim looks premium, especially because you don’t expect there to be haptic buttons on it. This helps for a clean, button-less look.

Tesla’s design folks waxed long and loud about how they’d finally been able to visually lift and separate this Performance Model 3 from the basic one and they point to the new front and rear fascias, more aggressive styling, aerodynamic flicks, integrated cooling ducts, rear diffuser and carbon-fibre spoiler, which are there not only to look good, but to to “optimise lift balance and high-speed stability”.

Now, I’ll grant you it’s better than a normal Model 3, and that we were regularly approached by excited Tesla fans asking “is this the NEW PERFORMANCE OH MY GOD I WANT ONE NOW?!?"

But honestly, I still think it’s a bit subtle, and that includes the strange little 'Performance' sticker/badge on the rear, which does look a lot like the Ludicrous symbol that Elon loves, from the awful movie Spaceballs, but Tesla staff insist it’s not, nor is it Plaid. 

Clearly, the design tweaks are there for a reason, and train spotters will note the differences immediately, but it’s still just not the most exciting car to look at, nor is it anywhere near as exciting to behold as it is to drive.

This car is built on a dedicated electric architecture which theoretically gives it many benefits as there’s no space needed for a combustion engine, nor its transmission or driveline components.

While the Ariya benefits from this by pushing the wheels to the extremities, it underwhelms in others. More on this in a bit.

As standard the driver’s seat is mounted very high. I’m 182cm tall and in the seat's lowest position I was only a few centimetres off my hair tickling the roofliner. While this is nice from a forward visibility standpoint, I instinctively want to sit lower in the cabin.

Despite this, the front seats are deliciously comfortable. They offer plenty of electric adjustability, allowing you to find your desired seating position. Depending on the trim they’re heated and ventilated, which is a treat in fickle Melbourne weather.

As noted before, the steering wheel features physical buttons, which is a major plus. They’re clearly labelled and are easy to understand.

Ahead of the driver the digital instrument cluster is classic Nissan. There are a range of informative pages to cycle through, as well as two layouts to choose from. All of them look high-res.

Moving across, the touchscreen multimedia system is also a classic Nissan unit. Almost every Nissan model has a variation of this touchscreen now, which kind of makes the Ariya feel less special.

Thankfully however, the user interface is clear and easy to understand. It’s hard to get lost and even if you do, there are shortcut buttons on the side of the screen.

As standard there’s wireless Apple CarPlay, which is great if you have an iPhone and almost expected nowadays, however Android Auto is only offered in wired form only. This is disappointing from a high-tech flagship.

I appreciate there are haptic buttons for the climate control under the touchscreen. It’s much better than having these functions built into the touchscreen. However, the seat heating/ventilation and the steering wheel heating is in the touchscreen, but you can program it to an automatic mode so it’ll turn on and off with the climate control.

The haptic buttons extend onto the centre console which electrically slides in the Advance+ and Evolve. These ones are for the drive mode and ePedal selection.

Speaking of the centre console, it’s a big bulky unit but it barely offers any storage. Under the centre console lid there’s a wireless charger and a miniscule amount of storage. There’s also a tiny phone-sized slot at the front of the centre console, plus a 12V socket and some USB ports.

It’s disappointing Nissan hasn’t taken better advantage of the flat floor accommodated by the dedicated electric architecture. There’s open space between the driver and passenger, which makes it feel like you’re in dedicated recliners.

As a result of the paltry centre console storage, there are two gloveboxes. One on the passenger side and another in the centre. Both look like they’re sizeable, but that’s just the lid as the actual storage space is a fraction of this.

Moving to the second row I have a decent amount of legroom behind my own driving position. Toe room is negligible however and headroom suffers from the panoramic glass sunroof.

Despite this the second-row bench is still comfortable. It’s laid back, though there’s not much lateral support. This means in the bends you’ll be thrown into the door or into the centre of the car.

There continues to be a flat floor in the second row, plus a minimal hump in the rear bench means you could technically go three-up if you wanted. The limitation at this point is shoulder space.

In terms of amenities there are centre console-mounted air vents, USB-C ports, heated outboard seats (depending on the trim) and a fold-down armrest with cupholders. It’s fairly standard.

From the Advance trim and up there’s a standard hands-free power tailgate. This is handy if you’ve got your hands full.

For the boot space itself, it’s fine but not standout. Two-wheel-drive variants are notably better with 466L of boot space with the rear seats upright. The Evolve e-4orce only has 408L due to the rear electric motor.

As expected there’s no spare tyre at all across the line-up. Instead there’s a tyre repair kit under the boot floor.

No Ariya trim has a front boot.

Inside, the big news is the new seats. Tesla was happy to admit the pews fitted to the previous Performance just weren’t up to the job of holding humans in place when applying so much G force. 

The new 'Sport Seats' feature enhanced side cushioning and side bolsters for better lateral support during dynamic driving. And they can also be heated and ventilated. 

Elsewhere, there’s some carbon-fibre trim on top of the dash, with a Tesla-first weave pattern to further help the Performance stand out within the Model 3 line-up.

Other than that, it’s pretty standard Tesla sedan, which will be familiar if you’ve ever caught an Uber in Los Angeles. Spartan, minimalist, slightly cheap-feeling.

As for the practicality of the tech, I'm still against the giant 15-inch tablet-style touchscreen, for everything, the replacement of an indicator stalk with buttons and not having a speedo right in front of your eyes, where you need it.

Tesla says the price for the Model 3 Performance will be "starting at" $80,900, plus on-road costs. There's no word on whether there will be different spec levels and the company does not like answering questions or providing information.

What we also know about Tesla is that the price quoted could move down, or up, at any time, quite randomly, so if phrases like "residual value" or "depreciation" are of interest to you, it can be a challenging brand.

That side swipe aside, this sounds like astonishingly good value for this much performance from your Model 3 Performance. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 N would give it run for fun and involvement, if not brand fans, but it's $111,000, while a Porsche Taycan kicks off at $164,000 (it is a lot more car for the money, but it might struggle to keep up with this Tesla, at least in base model form).

In terms of equipment, it's pretty much standard Model 3 fare, other than the fast bits and a spot of carbon here and there.

You get 'Autopilot' included, of course, but you can't use all of its 'Full Self Driving functionality' on Australian roads. Not yet, anyway.

There are only two electric powertrain configurations available in Australia.

The Ariya Engage and Advance are powered by a single, front-mounted electric motor that produces 160kW of power and 300Nm of torque. The Advance+ bumps the power figure up to 178kW to compensate for the larger battery pack.

The flagship Evolve e-4orce is the only trim with all-wheel drive. It has a dual-motor set-up with total system outputs of 290kW and 600Nm. This trim is claimed to be able to do the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.6 seconds.

If you’ve ever driven the previous Model 3 Performance you’ll know that it could well have come with Space X badging (arguably Elon’s more impressive engineering achievement), because it really did thrust rather than accelerate.

But this time the engineers wanted to go all out. Customers appreciated the incremental performance they got from the last Model 3 Performance version, but they told Tesla they wanted more.

With many enthusiasts among Tesla's engineering and development team, they looked to unlock the performance potential of the platform.

So, that meant a whole lot more madness and torque thump. It comes from a new Performance 4DU, an all-new drive unit - featuring an entirely new rear motor that uses bar-winding technology - unlocking 22 per cent more continuous power, 32 per cent more peak power and 16 per cent higher peak torque delivery. 

Overall figures are 380kW and 740Nm, but looking at them written down, they seem big, yet not as big as they feel in this car, as it’s shoving you from a standing start to 100km/h in three seconds flat. 

It feels faster. Sick-making fast, even.

There are also two battery pack options in Australia.

The Ariya Engage and Advance come with a 63kWh lithium-ion battery with a WLTP claimed range of 385km. This isn’t much for a car that’s around $60,000.

The Advance+ and Evolve e-4orce, on the other hand, get a larger 87kWh lithium-ion battery. WLTP claimed range is 504km and 487km, respectively, which is much more like it for a vehicle of this size.

All variants have a Type 2 CCS combination charge port on the passenger side front quarter panel with a maximum DC charge rate of 130kW. At this rate this will see the battery charge from 10 to 80 per cent in 35 minutes.

AC charging is offered at rates up to 7.4kW on the Engage, Advance and Advance+ trims. 22kW AC charging is optional on the Advance+ and standard on the Evolve e-4orce.

However, thanks to a launch offer for the first 400 vehicles, all Ariyas are getting standard 22kW AC charging, even the ones that typically don’t get it at all. This is a cool offer and an interesting incentive if you are on the fence on actually buying one.

There’s also a free 22kW AC home charger provided as an additional launch offer. You’ll need to install this unit at your own expense.

For energy consumption it depends on the trim level. It ranges between 18.4 and 20.8kWh/100km. During our testing of the Advance+ we saw an average of 14.2kWh and the Evolve e-4orce we saw an average of 18.0kWh/100km. This would give a theoretical range of 613km and 483km, respectively.

It’s worth noting these average energy consumption figures were according to the trip computer and the driving was on higher speed roads on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Despite being heavier and gruntier, Tesla claims the new Performance Model 3 manages to be more efficient than the one it replaces, albeit delivering just a two per cent reduction in energy consumption. Claimed energy usage is 16.7 kWh/100km.

Tesla claims a total range of 528km on the WLTP, which is obviously going to drop if you drive it the way its makers clearly intended.

Using a Tesla Supercharger, you can add 228km in 15 minutes and... that's all Tesla will tell us. There are no official figures available for how long a full charge takes, on either a Tesla charge or a home wallbox of your own.

We only got to experience Ariya trim levels with the larger 87kWh battery pack at this launch. It’d be interesting to see how trims with the smaller battery pack fare from a comparative standpoint as they’re lighter but offer less range.

With the Ariya Advance+, it has a single electric motor that offers a decent amount of power and torque. It’s probably all that you’d ever need in everyday traffic.

However, it’s far from being a sporty offering – it’s more comfort-oriented – but when you push it, the limitations of it being front-wheel drive become apparent. Traction control cuts power as soon as the corners get too sharp, but thankfully it never feels like this car is out of line.

For more oomph, this is where the flagship Evolve e-4orce comes in with its dual-motor all-wheel-drive set-up. Although 290kW and 600Nm sounds like a lot, it doesn’t provide neck-snapping acceleration. Instead, acceleration intentionally ramps up incrementally to maintain a serene vibe in the cabin.

This isn’t to call this Ariya trim slow, though. It can do 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds, which is far from a slouch. The way the power piles on though feels nice during rolling acceleration, making it a lovely tourer. If you do lean into the performance this trim offers however, be prepared to pay for it with a higher energy consumption.

There are multiple regenerative braking modes offered in the Ariya. ‘D’ is normal, ‘B’ exaggerates the effects, then ‘ePedal’ is the closest you get to a one-pedal driving mode. All the modes require you to press the brake pedal to come to a complete stop.

Thankfully, there’s no awkward interaction between the regen brakes and the traditional friction brakes. This helps make it feel like a regular car that just happens to be electric.

The steering changes its weight depending on the drive mode. Regardless of this, however, there is a direct feel through the wheel which is confidence-inspiring, especially out on the open road.

As standard the suspension set-up comprises MacPherson strut front and a multi-link rear across the line-up. With the smaller 18-inch wheels across the majority of the line-up there’s plenty of tyre sidewall to play around with, which makes the ride feel composed and comfortable. It balances the line between being too bouncy and too firm nicely.

The top-spec Evolve e-4orce with its larger 20-inch alloy wheels, however, has less tyre sidewall and as a result the ride is much busier. The effects are made worse when you load more people or weight into the car as it becomes very reactive to every road imperfection, especially large bumps.

Lastly in terms of noise, vibration and harshness levels, it’s extremely quiet in the cabin. This is surprising because the lack of a combustion engine typically makes other noises more apparent.

Very occasionally, one drives a car that makes the human body feel inadequate to the task. I would have worried that I’m getting old, that my body is simply too flubby and my brain too broken, to cope with the kind of wild acceleration and brutal g-forces the Model 3 Performance delivers.

But, fortunately, I had a videographer in the passenger seat, a much younger man who loves fast cars, and he kept threatening to vomit when I drove it hard, too. 

I’ve driven quite a few cars that you can use make your passenger sick, or hurt their necks - one obvious competitor in the shape of a Porsche Taycan Turbo S comes to mind - but it’s very rare that a vehicle is so intense it can make you, the driver, feel bilious.

Yes, you do bring this on yourself, by choosing to push this Performance anywhere near its limits through particularly sharp and intestine-shaped roads like the canyons outside Malibu Tesla chose to launch it on. 

On longer, sweeping bends it was far more of a joy, and less physically punishing, but in the tight stuff it often felt like corners were being thrown at you, as if you were driving behind the Millennium Falcon and being pulled along in its wake.

The brakes, special new sporting ones with track-ready pads, were up to the task, even though it often felt like they couldn’t possibly pull you up from the speeds you were doing.

And yes, it was entirely my fault that the very first time I even gently prodded the throttle and it launched me ahead past a California Highway Patrol officer, that was my fault too. Three minutes into the drive, holding an American fine, I had already deduced that perhaps this car was too fast for my own good.

But lots of EVs are fast in a straight line, you’re really comparing the length and depth of your “oooophhh” sounds at this point, but where this one succeeds is by being a lot better in the handling and ride and cornering departments than most.

Tesla’s stated goal with this car was to move beyond straight-line speed, to become more than a one-trick pony, and to do that it’s given the Performance a stiffer structure overall and updated the springs and stabiliser bars. 

Aerodynamic changes have reduced drag by five per cent, delivered a 36 per cent lift reduction, and a 55 per cent improvement in front-to-rear lift balance.

Tesla’s own, in-house version of adaptive dampers, not an option but included in every Performance, work with the car’s 'Vehicle Dynamics Controller' through its various modes - 'Insane' and 'Track' being the most… ludicrous - to immediately respond to driver inputs. 

The Performance rides well on LA’s awful concrete freeways but feels absolutely nailed down when you attack even a bumpy driver’s road.

This version also has a lot more power going to the rear wheels, to help it feel more sports-car playful and to fire out of bends the way an enthusiast’s car should. And make no mistake, I met them, the people behind this car are serious driving enthusiasts (although they demur, slightly, on whether their boss is one).

Track mode will allow some serious adjustability, drifting ability and fun, so the kind of people who want to hurl around a racing circuit in silence will love it.

Perhaps the only let downs are that it still feels a bit austere inside, just not very special, and that the steering is just a bit digital, soft and uninvolving, compared to the cars they clearly benchmarked against - BMWs and Porsches. 

Tesla provided no information about safety for the Performance Model but it is assumed it will be unchanged from a standard Model 3.

Aside from Autopilot that means auto emergency braking, lane keep aids, and instead of blind-spot monitoring, it gets the surround radar view and blind-spot cameras when you indicate.

The latest Model 3 has an additional centre airbag for a total of seven, as well as additional bolstering where the doors meet the body in response to requirements in its American home market.

It should be able to carry its maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, which the original version achieved in 2019.

Like other Nissans, the Ariya is covered by a 10-year/300,000km warranty, providing you service at authorised Nissan service centres when required. If you don't, there's only five years of coverage.

The battery pack on the other hand is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty.

There’s also up to 10 years of roadside assistance if you service at authorised Nissan service centres.

Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first, and the first five services are capped at $299 each.

Overall this is a fairly compelling aftersales package, plus it helps that Nissan has a substantial dealer network around Australia.

Again, we've been asked to assume the Performance will come with Tesla's standard four-year/80,000km warranty and roadside assistance. And that the battery and drive unit will fall under an eight-year/192,000km warranty, whichever comes first.

Tesla says it monitors its cars to ascertain when they need servicing, and so it is based on a case-by-case situation. Every 12 months/20,000km is recommended for a general check-up, and includes tyre rotation.

Wiper blades, brake fluid and cabin air filters need replacement every two years while the air-con service is every six years.

Of course, there are no oil changes, filters or spark plugs to replace, and even brake pad wear is less than on an ICE vehicle because of the regenerative braking system. Although it will likely be higher in the Performance variant.