GENERATION NEXT
AutoVolt Magazine|Issue 30
There’s more to the Ariya than a merging of Nissan’s strengths in SUV and electrification – it’s the start of a significant new chapter, as senior vice president for Global Design Alfonso Albaisa explains.
Alfonso Albaisa
GENERATION NEXT

Electric vehicles have changed so much in the meantime that it’s easy to forget just how much of a step forward the original Nissan LEAF was in 2010. This was a line in the sand; putting a useful range and fast charging ability in a full-size, motorway-capable family car, and it arrived just in time to benefit from unprecedented market volatility. In 2021, the Ariya SUV will set out to do the same.

For the company’s senior president of global design, Alfonso Alibaisa, delivering the right product was as much about restraint as it was making the most of starting from a blank sheet. “It is a complex journey designing an EV, because the immediate impulse is that you should design something that looks immediately very high tech,” he says.

“But human beings buy these cars; they are huge investments, and sometimes, historically, people have rejected the odd. So the bigger struggle is how purely you express something that is a technology of the future – each car company probably does it a little differently.”

The LEAF’s leftfield design had been skin-deep. Rumoured, though never confirmed, to be a relative of Nissan’s compact car platform, it wasn’t a radical reinvention of the usual combustion-engine layout – a powertrain under the bonnet, and energy storage under the cabin. The Ariya, and subsequent mid-size Renault and Mitsubishi EVs, will share a platform based around what Albaisa calls the ‘magic carpet’ layout, with a flat battery pack and drive units at one or both axles. Where some OEMs use new-found under-bonnet space for a ‘frunk’, this allowed Nissan to move bulky air conditioning components out of the cabin.

Bu hikaye AutoVolt Magazine dergisinin Issue 30 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye AutoVolt Magazine dergisinin Issue 30 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

AUTOVOLT MAGAZINE DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
BMW Prices Up All-Electric i4 Saloon And iX SUV
AutoVolt Magazine

BMW Prices Up All-Electric i4 Saloon And iX SUV

DUE for UK launch in November 2021, BMW has released pricing details for the new all electric i4.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 33
Volvo Trucks announces new family of heavy electric HGVs
AutoVolt Magazine

Volvo Trucks announces new family of heavy electric HGVs

VOLVO Trucks will boost its electric truck range in 2022, with the arrival of three more zero emission HGV models. Joining the FE and FL Electric trucks which are aimed at urban routes and use, the new FH, FM and FMX Electrics will cater for the heavier road transport sector.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 33
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTE
AutoVolt Magazine

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTE

Can a hybrid hot hatch really deliver the best of both worlds? Alex Grant finds out.

time-read
3 dak  |
Issue 33
REACH FOR THE SKIES
AutoVolt Magazine

REACH FOR THE SKIES

Electric flying racing cars have literally taken off, thanks to pioneering efforts from the Airspeeder team.

time-read
4 dak  |
Issue 33
POLESTAR 2
AutoVolt Magazine

POLESTAR 2

With motorsport in its DNA, has Polestar cracked the electric driver’s car?

time-read
5 dak  |
Issue 33
HYUNDAI IONIQ 5
AutoVolt Magazine

HYUNDAI IONIQ 5

The retro-inspired first instalment of Hyundai’s new-generation EV line-up has substance worthy of its head-turning styling.

time-read
5 dak  |
Issue 33
Kia EV6
AutoVolt Magazine

Kia EV6

Hot on the heels of the Hyundai IONIQ 5, sister car the EV6 heralds a fresh new design direction for Kia, as well as the first of eleven electric cars (including seven dedicated) to launch globally by 2026.

time-read
2 dak  |
Issue 33
BEAUTY... and the BEAST
AutoVolt Magazine

BEAUTY... and the BEAST

With five rounds, nine teams and no fossil fuels; the first season of Extreme E is a no-holds barred proving ground for next-generation electric technology, and the result of some competing sustainability requirements.

time-read
9 dak  |
Issue 33
Audi prices Q4 e-tron
AutoVolt Magazine

Audi prices Q4 e-tron

THE new Audi Q4 e-tron all electric SUV is now on sale on the UK, with prices starting at £40,750 OTR for the standard model and £42,250 OTR for the more swoopy, coupélike Sportback model.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 33
2021 JAGUAR E-TYPE ELECTROGENIC
AutoVolt Magazine

2021 JAGUAR E-TYPE ELECTROGENIC

The Jaguar E-Type, dubbed “the most beautiful car ever made” by Enzo Ferrari needs little introduction to classic car fans the world over. Its design is so iconic that the E-Type is frequently credited as blurring the lines between definitions of art, sculpture and vehicular transportation.

time-read
2 dak  |
Issue 33