Nissan Ariya prototype 2021 Review

Nissan has beaten both Peugeot and Volkswagen by inadvertently inventing a pure-electric hot hatch with its new LEAF Twin-Motor. But despite the cheap headlines you’ve probably read elsewhere, all is not what it appears.

That's because there's little chance the next LEAF will ever come with a twin electric motor set-up and that LEAF hot hatch idea will forever remain a concept.

If you want a sporty battery-powered hatchback with more torque than a Nissan GT-R, you'll be better off having a word with your local Peugeot or VW dealer and place an order for the electric 208 GTI or sportiest I.D 3 GTI we know are in the pipeline. That's assuming those cars even make it Down Under.

Not that Nissan has wasted a set of ultra-cool gold Rays T37 rims and bolt-on arches. Because beneath the familiar LEAF body you see hereabouts is the powertrain for the next-gen Nissan Ariya SUV previewed in concept form at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. And it’s a crossover that will be important to Aussie buyers – perhaps sooner than any of us expect.

Nobody from Nissan at Tokyo would go on the record to say the LEAF twin-motor is directly linked to the new crossover. But take it from us, it is!

What was confirmed (by the man who designed the stunning concept, Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's head of design) is that when it arrives, the Ariya will be based on an all-new pure-electric architecture that will be shared with future versions of the LEAF and, potentially, other models.

Cheekily, the design boss also said his stylish SUV will be 'almost' as quick as the current GT-R.

If Albaisa's claim the Ariya will hit 100km/h in around 3.0sec is true, it means the prototype's 227kW and 680Nm of torque are probably conservative figures. For it will need much more power (and torque) to overcome its expected 1800-2000kg kerb weight.

In any case, compared to the LEAF, that has to make do with 110kW and 320Nm of torque, the Twin-Motor concept is a huge step up in performance – although it's not all about the power, says the engineer team which developed it.

The mule we drove was thrown together to show off Nissan's progress when it comes to its electric all-wheel drive tech.

Not that there's anything pioneering about the prototype's set-up – there's the usual technique of mounting a motor on each axle and then using torque vectoring and braking individual wheels to improve balance and traction mid-corner.

Basically, Nissan engineers have been burning the midnight oil trying to virtually replicate its R35 mechanical ATTESSA active all-wheel drive using mainly software and careful calibration.

As well as better handling, the boffins have also taken the opportunity to address a problem that plagues all battery-powered vehicles – the inability to claw back energy smoothly.

Controlling the 'pitch and dive' that causes vigorous head nod during braking (even making some drivers and passengers feel queasy), the all-new powertrain cleverly uses both the front and rear electric motors to carefully balance the weight transfer caused by re-gen to keep the body flat.

For our demonstration (sadly on track rather than real roads), Nissan rolled out a standard LEAF for a series of tests that included an acceleration run, brake re-gen test, steady state corner, slalom and, finally, a skid pan.

Off the line, the LEAF/Ariya prototype launches with real conviction, dishing up far more acceleration than the regular car without even a hint of wheelspin. Alas, as its peak power and torques suggest suggest, the claim of GT-R-quick isn't delivered.

If we had to guess, a sub-6.0sec 0-100km/h feels about right.

The next test of the advanced all-wheel drive system involves accelerating to 40km/h and then lifting off and allowing the re-gen to slow the car 20km/h before accelerating back to 40 -- multiple times!

Do that in the regular LEAF and your passengers would revolt, what with all the enforced head-nodding as your neck struggles with the g-force. In the twin-motor mule, meanwhile, the retardation is far, far smoother with better brake modulation when you need it – addressing another criticism of the standard car.

Tipping the battery-powered hatch into a left-hander sweeper and there's still too much body roll for our taste. Same goes for the 60-70km/h slalom, but engineers admit that the prototype is more about demonstrating the powertrain rather than how flat it can corner.

That said, as the little hatch sweeps from left to right, it's noticeable how aggressive you can be with the throttle, deploying more of that muscular torque faster and more frequently.

It's the same for the final skid pan where the standard car ploughed on into understeer, barely able to find any traction on the watered-down circle.

The twin-motor, meanwhile, laps up the circle work and is not only faster, but more engaging and responsive to the throttle.

It is worth noting that the twin-engine was running a wider Continental tyre, but with the added electric motor, safety gear and extra control units, the added grip dished up should be largely offset by the extra weight.

Perhaps most impressive is clumsy flat throttle application mid-corner that, in the production car, would result in an intimate liaison with the cones. Here, it translates into yet more acceleration, until the laws of physics kick in and the tyres lose eventually lose their purchase.

At times you even swear the LEAF/Ariya mule has a good old-fashioned mechanical locking differential, it's that good. Better still, the system is also able to adapt to the road conditions – from heavy rain to thick snow – with a level of precision impossible with current mechanical all-wheel drive systems.

After three more enjoyable laps of the skid pan (because of science, not the fun factor, you understand!), it's hard not to come away equally impressed and frustrated.

Impressed because the LEAF/Ariya prototype demonstrates Nissan is on the right track to applying its legendary all-wheel GT-R knowhow to its next generation of electric vehicles. Frustrated because after sampling the LEAF Twin-Motor, the idea of a powerful all-wheel drive zero-emission hot hatch in the spirit of the original Pulsar GTI-R is irresistible.

Perhaps we can convince the powers that be at Nissan to do both? A hot hatch and a stunningly styled fast EV crossover – that are both affordable. Sounds like a recipe for two successes to us…

How much does the 2021 Nissan Ariya cost?
Price: $60,000*
On sale: Late 2021
Motor: Permanent magnet synchronous electric x 2
Output: 227kW/680Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Energy consumption: N/A
CO2: N/A
Safety rating: N/A
*estimated