Nissan announced that its electric SUV, the Ariya - would have a Nismo version coming soon and as of this week, it is now available to order. Nissan has also released the final specifications for the performance SUV.

The Nissan Ariya Nismo was made available to pre-order on 17th October and prices start from £56,620 in the UK. For that you get a dual motor system with 429bhp and 600Nm of torque. For context, that is around 40bhp more than the previous top-spec model and on paper at least, is quite far behind other performance focused electric cars. For example, the staggeringly fast Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has 641bhp and 740Nm of torque and the related Genesis GV60 Sport Plus and Kia EV6 GT are not far behind too.

However, Nissan has said that it has made some notable improvements to the handling to make it have ‘sports car precision’. To this end, the four wheel drive system on the Ariya has been retuned for a 60:40 rear bias and according to Nissan, it is capable of adjusting the power sent to each wheel 10,000 times per second. Also, the suspension has been worked on, for better body control, improved stability and agility at higher speeds. Nissan has also firmed up the steering for better feel, which is good news - as when we tested the standard Ariya, the steering was somewhat numb. All of this combined should make the Ariya Nismo handle pretty well.

Similar to the Ioniq 5 N, Nissan has added some artificial sounds, but the Ariya will have ones that sound like a Formula E race car.

Nissan has leaned into the design of Nismo, with red accenting around the exterior and lots of touches inside. For example, it has new seats with a suede-effect, red band on the steering wheel, new graphics for the driver display, to invoke sporty feel. The light boxes have also been changed to red, as has the starter button.

The new Nissan Ariya Nismo is priced from £56,620 and is available to order now in the UK. Early customers will receive £500 charging credit through Nissan Charge, the company's own charging network - as well as some limited edition artwork.

Source: Nissan UK