• Uncluttered interior looks good and is well finished
• Most major functions are handled by touchscreen or voice
• Good build quality 

How is the quality and layout?

The interior is eye-catching and has some nice design touches, while the trim and material quality are ahead of the Volkswagen ID.4, and up there with the Skoda Enyaq. There are some scratchier plastics to be found, but that’s fairly typical at this price point. A special mention should go to the ambient lighting which makes the interior look even more impressive at night.

Cast your eyes across the interior and you’ll see it’s purposely sparse. Instead of physical buttons for things such as heating controls, the Ariya employs haptic feedback. It works a bit like a smartphone, in that you press it and it provides a click and gentle vibration to tickle your fingertip, without being a button. In practice you still have to take your eyes off the road to hit the control you want, so we’d still prefer switches and dials.

The central armrest is moved electrically and works really well. It means you can place your elbow where you want. Don’t lean on it too hard, though, it does flex slightly.

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Infotainment and tech

The interior is dominated by twin 12.3-inch screens. The first one acts as a screen for the infotainment set-up, while the second is a digital display for the driver. It’s the best set-up offered by Nissan, and is fast and easy to use, even if it lacks the visual flair of its best rivals. The good news is that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work seamlessly.

The Ariya gets a ‘hey Nissan’ voice control system as well as Alexa voice functionality, and it works very well indeed. There’s also a Nissan smartphone app to check battery status and set the climate control remotely as you can in many of its electric rivals. Thankfully a physical volume control is present with a skip song switch to its left, making music changes easier.

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Comfort

• Supportive front seats in a variety of trims
• Lots of legroom, front and rear
• Panoramic roof gives it an airy feel

The Ariya’s seats are comfortable and supportive, and thanks to the lack of transmission tunnel and a sliding centre console, it feels airy. All models get a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, with Evolve adding ventilation to the front seats and heat to the outer rears.

The panoramic roof adds more airiness, which is impressive, especially when specified in a lighter interior hue. However, you have to step up to Evolve specification before you get this feature as standard.

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