Nissan Ariya

All-new electric SUV promises an upmarket interior and an official range of up to 310 miles On sale Summer Price from £41,895

- Will Nightingale

ELECTRIC CARS HAVE been around since Victorian times, but the Nissan Leaf is widely credited with bringing the concept into the modern age. Launched in 2011 - when the G-Wiz quadricycle was Britain's best-selling electric vehicle (EV) and the only Tesla you could buy was essentially a Lotus Elise stuffed with cells - it showed the world that battery power was a viable personal transport option.

So why has it taken Nissan more than a decade to follow the Leaf with another fully electric model (unless you count the E-NV200 Combi, which is basically a van with windows)?

Well, it's fair to say that EVs didn't take off as quickly as the Japanese brand hoped. It renewed the Leaf in 2017 but otherwise stuck to petrol and diesel engines. That's turned out to be a rather unfortunate decision, because while the Leaf was undoubtedly a pioneer, Nissan's new electric SUV, the Ariya, starts its life on the back foot. There are already more than half a dozen rivals on the market, including boxier options such as the Skoda Enyaq iv, coupé-like alternatives (including the Tesla Model Y and Volvo C40 Recharge), and slightly lower-riding cars like our 2022 Car of the Year, the Kia EV6.

The Ariya isn't exactly going to woo you with its low price, either. Starting at just under £42,000, it's far too expensive to qualify for the Government's electric vehicle grant (only cars priced up to £32,000 are eligible these days). That's true of all the direct rivals, to be fair, but for context, the Enyaq starts at £34,850 and the EV6 at £40,945. The C40 costs from £44,800, but then that does have a premium badge. There are some mitigating factors, though, as we'll explain later.