Nismo charges back into UK with sporty Ariya EV

Driver Guides  Electric Vehicles  New Launches 

Nissan is bringing its Nismo sporting brand back to the UK to deliver a new variant of the Ariya EV.

Nismo stands for Nissan Motorsport, the in-house performance arm of the car giant. It is similar to AMG for Mercedes-Benz or BMW’s M division and still makes cars in Japan, where it is celebrating its 40th anniversary, despite being absent from the UK market for four years.

The launch marks the return of the Nismo brand to the UK and the new car went on show in London to coincide with the final weekend of Formula E racing season. While European specification has not been released, there are two potential models on offer with battery packs providing 66kWh and 91kWh.

An entry-level model features 362bhp and 560Nm of torque, while a flagship offers 429bhp, with 600Nm of torque.

Drivers can expect rapid acceleration, with a 0-62mph time of around 4.5 seconds. However, Nismo executives say this is only part of the equation. The real test of a sporty EV is ensuring it can manage the weight of the batteries to corner at speed, which is where its engineering team will focus ahead of launch.

An on-sale date for the new Nissan Ariya Nismo has yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, less exuberant Nissan Ariya models are still available.

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