Nissan unveils all-electric Ariya: Yahoo Finance test drives

Nissan (NSANY, 7201.T) has unveiled the 2023 Ariya, its all-electric crossover SUV. Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman and Pras Subramanian highlight their experience test driving the Ariya and share their thoughts on the EV's pricing and charging range.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

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RACHELLE AKUFFO: Nissan unveiled its first fully electric vehicle since the popular Leaf earlier this year. Meet the Nissan Ariya, the company's first fully electric crossover SUV. With a starting price of $43,190, does Nissan's latest foray give it a leg up in the EV race? Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian and Rick Newman are standing by with their review. Looking-- looking forward to this. It looked a little bit like a like a Nissan Rogue though.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, a little bit like that. We'll get into that external kind of design there. You know, Nissan sort of delaying this Ariya for a year because of the supply chain pandemic crisis, that parts crisis. But now it's here, Rick and I had the chance to drive it. So Rick, I wanted to kind of ask you about, you know, exterior wise, have we kind of gone past the super-- super futuristic spaceship look and gone to more regular-looking EVs here?

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, I mean, so-- I think Rachelle got it right, and that's what Nissan wants Rachelle to say is it does look like models that are in their existing lineup. There's nothing odd or weird about these EVs. And look, you and I like EVs. I mean, we've driven a bunch of them. We like the way they drive. We like one-pedal driving. We like the torque.

We-- I mean, they're generally designed well. I think it's no longer a question of are they good cars to drive. The question is, are they sellable? Are they marketable in the right way? And do they have the right features and, crucially, the right price to get people to buy them? And I think we have some doubts about the-- how do you say the name again?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Ariya. Ariya.

RICK NEWMAN: Ariya. I mean, I just-- I mean, I know how to say it, but I struggle over that name, and I don't-- it's such a wispy name. I don't-- it just like evaporates in the air. I don't really get the name.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, I agree, the name is a little bit clunky there, a little bit awkward. In my short time with the car when you and I drove it together, I thought it was totally adequate. This is the front wheel drive version of the car. Around 240 horsepower ish. Almost 300 miles of range. I thought it looked good on the outside. It didn't strike me as anything too crazy. But I thought it drove comfortably. Very smooth, very quiet. A nice luxurious interior for a Nissan, in my opinion. A very upscale interior. I think they did a great job. But I think, Rick, what we're talking about here is the cost.

RICK NEWMAN: With the price to match.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: $53,000 as tested. It starts at $43,000. You're not going get [? in a ?] $43,000 car. $53,000, no EV tax rate. What do you-- what do you think about that?

RICK NEWMAN: I mean, this is a huge problem. So this car starts at a $7,500 price disadvantage. And this is complicated, but for everybody, cars have to have a certain percentage of US content to qualify for those tax credits. That includes leases. And this one doesn't. It's made in Japan. And Nissan began designing this before those-- that law ever passed, so they're stuck with it.

I did notice one cool thing when I was looking at the website. In New York, which is where we are and where I live, you don't have to get an emissions certificate every year, which you pay for or else you get a $65 ticket for. So that's one good thing about EVs. But that will not go far toward offsetting the loss of that $7,500.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I will say, the Ariya had a nice sort of floating sort of design with that console that kind of goes back and forth. Pretty cool little party trick there, but not enough to compensate for that $7,500 loss because of that tax credit. Akiko, I know that you are a EV owner. I know you have a competing EV that I think might actually be better but unfortunately comes with some baggage. What do you think about this car? What do you think about EV ownership in general?

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, I mean, it's the infrastructure, right? In fact, I just saw that Electrify America, and it just-- it's so frustrating to have to look for a charger. That's the bigger concern. But you know, I'd be curious to watch the two of you in that car sort of talk about it because, as you know, I mean, Japanese carmakers have not been at the forefront of this EV race. And Nissan, you know, they were kind of ahead in the beginning with the Leaf, but they've sort of fallen behind. So we'll be very curious to see your review. Of course, you can all see it online. Pras and Rick back in the car together! Thanks so much for that, guys.

RICK NEWMAN: Thank you.