The Nissan Ariya has arrived in NZ
The Nissan Ariya has arrived in Aotearoa, and let me tell you, this is not just a Nissan Leaf that’s been hitting the gym and discovered oat milk. No, the Ariya is a whole new beast. Three flavours are on offer in NZ, starting with a sensible front-wheel-drive 63kWh model and climbing all the way up to the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive fancy pants version that I’ve been punting around. It’s properly plush too. It has heated seats everywhere (even for the freeloaders in the back). It Also ventilated thrones up front to keep your spuds cool, and twin 12.3-inch displays that look like they’ve been nicked off the Starship Enterprise. There’s even a James Bond-style sliding storage drawer in the dash. Press a button and it glides out like it’s delivering state secrets… or potatoes.
On the open road from Te Kuiti to Auckland and back — just shy of 400km — it managed a very respectable 15.6kWh/100km while being driven like it owed me money. It’s whisper-quiet on our coarse chip roads (which are louder than your spouse coming home at 2am), rides far more comfortably than a Tesla Model Y, and corners with surprising confidence for something this tall. Sure, there are a few grumbles: no vehicle-to-load, no NZ app support, and the steering wheel doesn’t drop quite low enough unless you’re built like a hobbit. But as a family EV? It’s spacious, refined, packed with tech including self-parking wizardry, and it feels properly premium. Nissan might have a job convincing Kiwis this isn’t “just another Leaf,” but after a proper road trip, I can confirm that this is anything but.
