In this week’s Ask Nathan:
- Is the Nissan Ariya ready to compete?
- Why don’t you change your tires for videos?
- What happened to VEHIX.com?
The first question comes from a fan who wants to know if the Nissan Ariya is too little, too late.
Q: (Via: AskNathan@TFLcar.com)
Hi guys, I was thinking about getting something like the Nissan Aryia a few years ago. Covid happened and the car never came out. Now I see that it’s finally coming out but it kind of seems like it might be outclassed. Maybe I’m wrong. It could be an amazing deal but it seems very expensive.
I specked out a 2023 Nissan Ariya ENGAGE+ e-4ORCE AWD with the 87 kWh battery and almost no options. The price was over $52,000 after shipping & handling! Correct me if I’m wrong, but the 2023 IONIQ 5 SE AWD is about $2,000 less. And the ID4 equivalent is a thousand less than that.
I guess my question is this, is the Nissan Ariya ready for prime time? Is it two-thousand-dollars better than the IONIQ 5? Three-thousand-dollars better than the ID4? They are so very late to the game too.
What would you say?
- HealthyTool
A: I certainly do agree that the Nissan Ariya is late to the game, by over a year.
It’s confounding to see the former leader in EV tech flounder for so long, as Nissan has. While Tesla, Hyundai/Kia, Ford and others have passed them with many products – only the Leaf was available. We expected to see some movement from the Ariya back in 2019. I suspect that Nissan has been pragmatic about the introduction, and some of that may have to do with shortages.
As of right now, I cannot say whether the Aryia is that much better than the less expensive competition. They have a lot of faith in it, which is evident with their special polar expedition Aryia. It’s fitted with 39-inch all-terrain tires, a special suspension and a bunch of upgrades. The Ariya in question is the stock drivetrain up to a 16,700+ mile run from one pole to the other? Nissan seems to think so, and this may open the door for discussion about its potential ruggedness.
You can read more details (here).
There’s a lot more to the Aryia though – including a new drivetrain that Nissan’s debuting. It will be loaded with higher tech goodies, and it’s coming from the (former) leader in EV tech. I have high hopes, but the challenge is huge.
We should know a lot more about the Ariya soon.
– N
The next question/comment comes from a viewer who’s displeased that we tested a vehicle on the tires it came with. I used th example below, but we get a ton of comments like these for snow and off-road.
Q: (Via: SantaCruzForums) Hyundai Santa Cruz General Discussion
This is interesting. TFL played Truth or Dare with a Tuscon N-Line and their SC SEL Premium. I really wish they’d put different tires on their SC. We all know that the stock tires suck off–road. Jeff doesn’t fit in the SC’s back seat all that great…
– nothavingone
A: You have a point, but there’s no way we could afford to do so.
First of all, we test all the vehicles stock – the way they were delivered from the automaker. This is to ensure that the testing matches the same vehicle the consumer will buy. Occasionally, we will test with a special tire – but that’s for tire testing purposes, or for a special video theme. We’ve done a few videos showing the difference between snow tires, or off-road tires vs the ones the vehicle came with. Sure, the results are usually dramatic – we usually recommend upgrading to aftermarket tires.
Sorry to say, but considering we get up to 50, even 60 test vehicles in a year – using unique tires is out of the question.
– N
The last comment comes from a fan who wants to know what happened to VEHIX.com.
Q: (Via: NathanAdlen@Twitter) I know you worked for VEHIX.com way back.
What ever happened to them?
- E Burger
A: Yes I did, a long time ago.
Vehix was one of my first “big” jobs as a professional journalist and reviewer. I worked there until they were completely disbanded by Comcast in 2012. That started about 17 years ago, and it’s a bitter-sweet memory. Nice people, great opportunity and a lot of fine memories.
All of their content was destroyed, but I do see tidbits hiding here and there.
Not much to say about it, I guess.
– N
