► Nissan Ariya Nismo spied charging up
► Sportier EV prototype spotted
► Spyshots emerge near the ‘Ring
Nissan has a long history of making go-faster performance versions of its petrol and electric cars – and on this evidence, we’d wager that a go-faster Nissan Ariya Nismo is being plotted in the boardroom of Yokohama.
Our spy photographers stumbled upon this brawnier-looking Nissan Ariya charging up at a Tesla charging station near the Nurburgring circuit in Germany, sporting a few aerodynamic aids absent from the regular car.
Nismo telltales: decoding our spy photos
There are a few giveaways that this electric car is not your average Ariya: it wears a modest bodykit, with a reprofiled front bumper wearing a lower spoiler lip while at the rear there’s a compact spoiler integrated below the back window.
This car is wearing one of the six two-tone paintwork options already offered by Nissan.
Our man with the long lens reported that the brake discs look slightly larger in diameter, although it is hard to verify this from the pictures. The rotors certainly don’t look significantly uprated.
Note also the 20-inch black alloy wheels fitted to the test car – they’re not a design you’ll find on the UK configurator today. It is telling that these rims don’t look especially large on this slab-sided electric car, although the tyre choice is certainly more sporting than the eco tyres on a regular Nissan Ariya: sticky Michelin Pilot Sport boots in 255/45 R20 spec.
How much more powerful will a Nissan Ariya Nismo be?
That’s the $64 million question. Today’s Ariya already offers a choice of two-wheel drive or e-4ORCE all-wheel drive to handle the twin motors’ 388bhp and 443lb ft of torque. It’s enough for a 0-62mph time of between 7.6sec and 5.7sec.
Our best bet would be that the Nismo version would focus more on sportier looks and handling, with only a modest power hike, or remapped deployment, to give a more dynamic performance. This is the path chosen for the last-generation Nissan Leaf Nismo.
It really depends on how much Nissan wants to challenge the impending slew of go-faster EVs, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and its ilk.
Nismo’s not been shy in the past: we’ll update this page once we hear more.