I test drove the Nissan Ariya and was impressed at some of the year-end offers

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I was driving by a grocery store and noticed they had a Nissan Ariya test drive station just north of Denver, Colorado. I stopped and took him for a ride.

I drove the top-of-the-line Platinum 4×4. This has a power liftgate, heated and cooled leather seats, a premium Bose sound system, and a larger battery for about 300 miles of range. It costs about $10,000 more than the base front-drive model with much less range. For many, the extra $10,000 is worth it; For others who live in snow-free areas and don’t mind charging more, this isn’t the case.

It felt similar to the top-of-the-line Chevy Equinox I drove earlier this year. I had to push the car to its limits on a roundabout and it was surprisingly neutral. It felt a little more composed than the Equinox, but not as nice as the expensive Polestar 3 I’ve previously driven. I found acceleration to be quick, but there is a slight lag compared to my Tesla Model Y, which has instant throttle response. It also has unstoppable creep, and regeneration is very moderate. None of these things will bother the person coming from a gas car, but they might bother the person coming from an electric car.

I loved the head-up display, and the interior materials felt more premium than in my Chevy or Tesla, and almost as nice as a Polestar! We at CleanTechnica have written a lot about Ariya — see here for hundreds of articles mentioning it.

I like to camp in my car sometimes, so I like to test the backcountry. It was a bit short, but it’s easy to put something to cover the gap between the front and back seats if you want to camp there. It seemed a little wider than my Model Y, which provides more room for two people if you buy a mattress. I found the front seats comfortable, and the back seats were surprisingly roomy for someone as large as me (230 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches).

The top model rents for $299 a month (in Colorado, where there’s a $5,350 rental credit plus a $7,500 federal tax credit), the person who attended the event said. As you can see above, there are some very aggressive lease deals in Colorado. The $29 per month Nissan Leaf would be a great city car, while the $119 all-wheel-drive Ariya is a great deal, especially since the Ariya is expected to have access to most Tesla Superchargers by the end of this year!

At the end of the test drive, they asked me to take a two-minute survey and gave me a $10 gift card to the grocery store. There was no buying pressure at this time.

Tesla is also rolling out discounts

As you can see in the video above, my friend Dennis expects Tesla to offer a wide range of incentives between now and the end of the year in hopes of hitting its sales goals. They may get an extra boost from people who want the $7,500 federal tax credit before it is repealed. Some of the things Dennis expects are listed below. Some of these discounts are available today, some will likely come in the next few weeks, and others probably won’t come at all.

3 to 6 months of Free Supercharging Free Supercharging transfer from existing vehicle Free FSD for up to 3 years Lease discounts up to $199 per month on Model 3 and $299 per month on Model Y 0% financing for Up to 72 months inventory discounts up to $8,000 at select locations

Of course, we know that Tesla will likely announce improved, more affordable options next year, so be aware of that so you don’t experience buyer’s remorse when something better comes along.

conclusion

Now is a good time to buy or lease an electric car. Chevrolet, Kia, and Hyundai also offer plenty of promotions. Of course, there will always be something better coming in the future, but with tax credit policy more uncertain than ever, this may be the best deal you’ll find in a while.

If you want to utilize my Tesla referral link to get bonus points, here’s the link: https://ts.la/paul92237 – but as I said before, if another owner helped you more, please use their link instead of mine. If you want to learn more about Tesla’s new referral program (August 2024), Chris Boylan wrote an excellent article about it.

Disclosure: I am a shareholder of Tesla (TSLA), BYD (BYDDY), Nio (NIO), XPeng (XPEV), NextEra Energy (NEP), and several ARK ETFs. But I’m not offering any investment advice of any kind here.