A Nissan Ariya NISMO can get the crossover its Street cred

The Nissan Ariya is one of the most anticipated electric SUVs of the year. While the battery-electric vehicle yet to go on sale, we’ve already imagined a hotter Nissan Ariya NISMO performance electric derivative.

The Nissan Ariya NISMO, rendered by ElectricVehicleWeb, looks ready to chuck some elegance for a bit of street-style sportiness. While the factory package includes smoked lights at the front and rear, our NISMO treatment throws in sportier bumpers, underbody spoilers in black and red, 20-inch NISMO six-spoke black alloy wheels, red brake callipers and a fixed rear wing. Also worth noting is the exciting NISMO branding all around, the lowered ride height and the streak of red on the ORVMs.

The aero improvements brought by the special body kit and lowered ride height, and the weight reduction from the special alloy wheels should provide a slightly more dynamic driving experience. As for the interior changes, we’d expect alloy pedals, sports front seats for the driver & front passenger, red & black faux leather upholstery, a G-force meter and a lap timer.

Nissan already offers stupendously fast configurations in the regular Ariya and they should be enough for the Ariya NISMO. Just for reference, there are four different output versions: 160 kW/300 Nm, 178 kW/300 Nm, 250 kW/560 Nm and 290 kW/600 Nm. The 160 kW/300 Nm and 178/300 Nm versions have a single motor while the 250 kW/560 Nm and 290 kW/600 Nm versions have two motors. Check the table below for more detailed specifications:

Aspect	Ariya short-range 2WD specifications	Ariya long-range 2WD specifications	Ariya short-range AWD specifications	Ariya long-range AWD specifications
Battery capacity (estimated)	65 kWh (nominal) 63 kWh (usable)	90 kWh (nominal) 87 kWh (usable)	65 kWh (nominal) 63 kWh (usable)	90 kWh (nominal) 87 kWh (usable)
Output	160 kW	178 kW	250 kW	290 kW
Torque	300 Nm	300 Nm	560 Nm	600 Nm
Acceleration (0-100 km/h)	7.5 seconds	7.6 seconds	5.4 seconds	5.1 seconds
Max speed	160 km/h	160 km/h	200 km/h	200 km/h
Estimated range (WLTC Japan)	Up to 450 km	Up to 610 km	Up to 430 km	Up to 580 km

The Nissan Ariya will go on sale in Japan in mid-2021. There’s no official confirmation about a Nissan Ariya NISMO, but we are positive that it is in the pipeline and will arrive in two years, as we saw in the case of the Mk2 Nissan Leaf in 2018. For India, the Nissan Ariya is still long away from arriving even if there is a plan for Nissan electric cars.