Tom Voelk is an award-winning automotive writer dedicated to real world independent car reviews. A New York Times contributor, Tom shoots, writes and edits these videos. Watch them on the big screen, they're cinematic.
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Just bought a new Nissan Frontier 6 cylinder 310 HP King cab ( should be called 2 seater cab) like the maverick the backseat is to small and it makes the truck bed to small I I got the SV package cost 33k Got 7000 lbs of towing so I am move my 5900 lb rv around Good gas mileage 18/24 Just a better value than ford Chevy and Toyota
I bought this over having the ability to choose anything I want. I can confirm this vehicle is absolutely amazing. Far better than the competition. Don’t fall for the Hyundai Kia Tesla trap this is the vehicle to get. Luxury comfort and power quality. Nissan nailed it don’t pass this vehicle up. Like I said I bought one and I’m considering the Nismo next for my wife. Sorry for myself and she can have my platinum e-4orce. Amazing review. Amazing vehicle.
Hyundai makes great looking cars in multiple options (ICE, PHEV, HEV and EV), compared to Japanese competitors (e.g., new Honda Pilot only in ICE?!?). Recalls are the issue.
Peak charging speeds are marketing. Ariya is 130kw however from 10%-90% it averaged 100kW according to Car and Driver. The Hummer EV only managed 98kW average even though it peaked around 270kW.
Funny it appears my comment got deleted?? I had said that I appreciate Tom bringing up some of the drawbacks for some people to own an EV. While it may work occasionally (meet for lunch on a trip), people taking most trips further than the initial range amount do not want to wait 58 mins to get charged to continue their trip. Especially if you have kids. Then if you are going somewhere a little remote you definitely have to plan where your charging stations and hope they are working. Just ask TFL. People in northern climate also suffer a lot of range reduction due to the cold climate in the winter. If you are traveling on the interstate at typical speeds of 75-80 mph you also suffer from reduced range. So while I think the EV is great for commuting or city dwellers, there are still too many negatives for a lot of people to buy into EVs. It's not my opinion, just look at sales of EVs and their resale value. Most people cannot afford to have 2 cars (1 ICE and 1 EV) depending on how far they want to drive. Technology of batteries and charging times need to improve for more people to embrace. One last point, people don't want to be forced into something they do not support yet.
I only delete the most egregious of posts, maybe you didn't push reply? I suggest buying the vehicle that works for your needs. I've had little to no issues with EVs.
These are half-truths at best. I've driven over 300k miles in EVs since 2013--a Volt/Bolt/Model 3 and now an Ariya. I just did an 1,100 hundred mile trip from Los Angeles to north of San Francisco with no problem. I drive a minimum of 25,000 miles a year all electric and usually go to 30-40k per year. In one month I've put about 6k miles on my Ariya and travel all over the American Southwest. According to AAA 67% of all road trips are less than 400 miles, which any EV can do. With one lunch break I could easily do 550 miles in my Ariya. Add in another 20 minute stop and I could do 650 miles. With winter driving all you need to do is add in two additional 15 minute stops to make up for your range loss. This is much more convenient than having to rebuild your house due to an atmospheric river flooding your neighborhood :) Just ask the people in central Europe how they liked the recent Boris storm. I agree that very remote locations such as National Parks can still be difficult to get to. But most people don't travel to depopulated areas. I can't speak for Europe, but in the US no US State is forcing people to buy EVS. Even in California you can buy used ICE vehicles FOREVER. There is no ban on them after 2035 and 25% of new car sales can be hybrids.
At least you bring up the points about mild temps and lower speed driving than on most interstates (75-80mph). Also, the almost 1 hour of charging is fine if you plan it around lunch, but if somebody just needs to get somewhere, you've just added 1 hour to your trip. That's a no go for almost everybody. For those above reasons many Americans choose not to buy an EV until it becomes more convenient for charging away from home and less range compromises because of winter time season. If you are only a suburban or city driver this is not a bad choice. However most people cannot afford 2 cars and the insurance to go with it.
Nice video! I learned a lot about the vehicle! The Nissan Ariya just became one of my favourite electric vehicles! And I like it in this specification!
I always love your summer roadtrip videos, Tom. They make me miss the Pacific Northwest, where we used to live. Still, I'm not complaining about New Mexico which is also a great roadtrip state. The Ariya sounds like a good choice, but I think we'll be looking at the EV3 or EX30 when we trade in our Outback next year, if we think it practical to go full electric. Our other car is now a Tucson PHEV and that is working out very well for us as we have the gas tank in reserve in a state where the EV infrastructure is much poorer than WA or OR (and the population density is much lower here too). I love cruising around the city on electric power and charging it overnight on 110v, but you know well the advantages of PHEVs better than me. Keep up the great work. By the way, hope that the level 2 charger you had installed in your concrete bunker garage is working out well for you.
The party trick on this vehicle might be the location of the charging port which is in the same location as a backed in Tesla so when Nissan gets supercharger access it might just be able to get close enough to a supercharger with a short cable to charge without taking up two stalls. The problem with the vehicle is the price and the mediocre charging speed and I haven’t heard of an updated Ariya on the horizon.
Never look at the max charging speed, look at the charge curve. Nissan charges 10-80% with 107kw average, which is actually better than the Tesla Model Y charge average of 101kw, even though Tesla maxes out at a whopping 250kw. Too bad the car is a parenthesis, even in the EV heavy northern Europe markets of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Ford quality to cost ratio is fucked the last few years. Their EVs are a joke. Still have solid trucks they seem to just focus on that as they sell well.
Im picking the exact same trim on Friday. I plan to get the range level no lower than 50%. how is level 2 charging been? Also how is the standard 6 speaker setup/
@@Pdep90 Great choice. i did not try out the higher trims with the Bose system myself, so i cannot say how good the standard sound system is in comparison to that. I am really enjoying my music and podcasts a lot in this car because how quiet and refined it is when driving. To be honest, i drive with the radio off most of the time - just to chill and enjoy the ride. I like the dash materials and seat (light leatherette) of the Evolve trim more than the platinum's (personal preference). i am primarily charging at home with a level 1 charger with no issues. I only drive 30-40 miles a day.
I’d like to know the cost at the Ford dealer to “top up” your “tank” that took 58(!) minutes. How much of a premium is charged above the local cost of electricity in a given area? I remember seeing at the local Kroger outlet a couple years back that the kilowatt fee was far above the $0.055/KwH that I pay at home. I believe electricity in the area you were in is even cheaper than mine. Finally Tom, how much would it have cost you to do this drive in your Plug-in Electric’s compared to this electric vehicle? Would the time saved by skipping the Mexican restaurant/charging station been worth it to arrive at the lake an hour earlier?
It was $31.00 total at the Ford terminal, around 55 cents per kW. Pretty standard for DCFC, and more expensive than gas by about buck a gallon in WA (if an ICE vehicle gets 30MPG) . DCFCing is far more expensive than home charging, I pay 12 cents kW (which is why I stress charging where you sleep is critical for the best EV ownership experience). By getting free juice near the campsite (an anomaly) I paid a total of around $37.00 for driving 450 miles. If I paid for the top off in Pateros at 49 cents KW, it would have tacked on another $15 or so. And yes it took 58 minutes because, as most know, once EVs hit 80%, the charge rate slows dramatically to protect the pack. It happens to all of them. The strategy when traveling is to "work the bottom of the battery", charging to 80%, then driving to 5-10% before charging. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's by far the fastest way to travel in an EV. From 5-80% the Ariya will hold its rate near 130kW pretty steadily (if the terminal can supply the juice) so the charge curve is pretty good if not particularly fast. Something I didn't cover. Does this help?
As for driving a PHEV and skipping the charge session, that would have saved me no time at all. The group had planned that lunch together before I knew I driving an EV. And really, is our time so valuable that we can't occasionally stop and enjoy a snack or meal? Stop and smell the preverbal roses. Many waste that much time daily by doomscrolling.
@@DrivenCarReviews Thank you Tom for your thoughtful and extensive answer. It does help immensely. I will continue to save my money waiting for what I believe will happen……. True long range batteries capable of 450 miles winter or summer, highways or mountains. As always, continue your excellent reviews. And answers to queries!
@@DrivenCarReviews no doubt. But with Samsung, CATL, ONE and Toyota (+others) all predicting that time coming in the last few years of this decade someone is bound to make it happen. And don’t forget it’s not just the battery. The motors are shrinking and becoming more efficient as well as the wiring. Now if we could just shrink the damn wheels 😉
Two points of note: There’s about 20 miles of additional range below 0% indicated. Not that you should regularly cut it that close, it’s nice to know that Nissan “hides” a fair amount of charge below 0. The 130KW charging speed is slow on paper, but it’s impressive that it holds that speed until about 50%, and it’ll still be charging above 70KW up to 85%. After that? It makes no sense to stay plugged in, but that recharging speed is pretty good for deep charges on road trips.
I appreciate Tom provided a review which matched my experience with Ariya. I own a Platinum Ariya from May 2023. Have been very happy with it so far. I recently relocated to San Diego from North NJ and I drove this car across the country mainly stopping at Wal-mart EA chargers (and staying hotels in the night). The charging curve is very good and I observed that the charging rate was faster than a Rivian and a Lyriq who were charging next to me at some points during the trip. Ariya's Propilot Assist 2.0 took care of my driving needs 80% of the highways. Interior is quiet. The trip was super comfortable. When I reached San Diego, the miles/kwh for the entire trip was showing 3.4 which translates to 296 miles per full charge. By the way I haven't visited the Nissan service center after I purchased this vehicle (same goes with my Nissan Leaf 2023 SV+ as well).
We ought to be thinking more about miles-per-kWh than simple range. You can always find ways to stuff more and more and more batteries into a vehicle and boost range, even though those batteries weigh a lot. These days an efficient EV scores in the 3-4 miles per kWh range. A really (expensive) but super-efficient can hit 5. This car does poorly by comparison, and I wonder why?
You couldn't give me anything with a turbo which seems like the direction Hyundai went with most of their vehicles and only 35 mpg out of a $42K hybrid ..... Your kidding me right.
Looks like a fun road trip and a beautiful park! An RV hookup would have been convenient at the park. I’m surprised more state parks don’t offer EV charging. With as many new charging stations coming online, access to Tesla Superchargers is becoming less critical but no less important.
I talked to a ranger there who said it's prohibitory expensive to install in remote areas. He said two EV driving campers teamed up to reserve 1 RV slot to chop the $40 fee in half. Each took a 10 hour shift. Only needed for one night so they could juice up to get back to Seattle.
