Nissan has plans to finally expand their electric lineup beyond the popular Leaf with the Ariya electric SUV. Ahead of its launch this winter, a pre-production version of the vehicle was spotted testing in Patterson, California.
The test vehicle was spotted at the Best Western Plus hotel parking lot, the same lot where the Patterson Tesla Supercharger is located. Model X owner Andrea Torrance was plugged in at the Supercharger when the Ariya pulled in with only its emblems covered.
Noticing the unusual attempt to protect its identity, a closer look confirmed it was in fact the Nissan Ariya.
According to Torrance the driver appeared apprehensive about the vehicle photographed and quickly pulled out a car cover from the trunk to keep it concealed, but not before she was able to snap a few more photos.
It might be the angle at which the photos were taken, but the nose of the car appears much shorter than what we have seen so far when Nissan first unveiled the car in July 2020.
The Ariya is set to take on the Tesla Model Y and will come equipped with either a 63kWh or 87kWh battery pack. The electric SUV doesn’t have an officially approved range estimate yet, but Nissan is aiming for 300 miles (482km) on a single charge for the larger battery in the front-wheel drive (FWD) model.
Nissan was hoping to launch the Ariya in their home country of Japan first by mid-2021, followed by North America, China, and Europe later in the year. That timeline has now been delayed to “this winter” due to the ongoing global chip shortage.
