Is the Ariya Vaporware?

2043 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Cnote, Mar 9, 2022

Nissan79

Discussion Starter · Feb 25, 2022 (Edited)

I went to the Portland International car show last nite. All major brands well represented, and as you'd expect there was a heavy EV / hybrid presence. I sat in all of the EV offerings from Toyota, Subaru, Kia (no Hyundai unfortunately), VW, Polestar, BMW, Ford, and Tesla (obviously) - but I couldn't sit in the Ariya. Why? Because it wasn't "real":

That, my friends, is a rolling mockup. It had no interior, 99% blacked-out windows, and was security-roped; not a good impression in my opinion. In fact I think it would have been better for Nissan to have avoided presence at the show altogether, because they didn't have the Z either. When added up, this left me with a soured impression of Nissan; but more specifically it just reinforced my ever-increasing doubt that we are going to see an Ariya any time soon: It wouldn't surprise me if they push it out another year. And yes I saw the recently-posted drivers 'review' from the pre-production example in Norway; but still just 9 months from Nissan's claimed Nov '22 US launch, there have been a sum total of zero reviews from any of the 'established' Youtube car content channels. Even for a pre-production vehicle, that is unusual.

So to answer my own question, "Is the Ariya Vaporware?", I'll kindly say "no". But I hold the opinion that Nissan is significantly struggling to come to terms with the fact that it is not a software company - and it's probably software/firmware stability that is holding up the Ariya - not chip shortages, or anything else they may publicly state. Somehow all of the other major EV's have navigated the troubled waters of supply chains and assurance-of-supply difficulties... So if come November and we find Nissan still hasn't filled any US orders, remember that software/firmware is really hard, and Nissan very likely is just now figuring this out.

I hope I'm wrong

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Cnote

· #2 · Mar 2, 2022 (Edited)

I think the timeline is just fine. If I recall, driving reviews don't normally come out this far in advance (at least they didn't for the Mach E or any other EVs that I can recall). The Ariya I saw in Houston last month was a fully built out prototype that they only let press inside. Perhaps they are spread thin with various auto shows and you got the least built out prototype?

Since this isn't their first ev rodeo I have more faith in Nissan delivering (including software/firmware) than I did Ford and there were definitely delays around that launch (and there are still delays for many who ordered). I think other companies are indeed still dealing with supply chain issues (just ask folks on the Mach E forum waiting for their cars or why so many cars are being sold with markups).

I think the problem is Nissan announced right before covid and the chip shortage (bad luck), and had to adjust as a result hence the timeline being pushed to fall of this year for the US vs the original timeline (very similar to Ford).

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DCEV

· #3 · Mar 2, 2022

When are the first deliveries supposed to occur in the first market, Japan?

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Nissan79

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 2, 2022

Nissan has set/missed/reset their delivery schedule several timies now, so unfortunately we don't know when any country (including the launch country of Japan) will get deliveries. Based on the last official word from Nissan corporate, Japan preorders should already have been delivered by now (they said dec'21 to feb'22 IIRC). It's now mar'22.
If any customers anywhere on the planet have received one yet, they are being suspiciously quiet. No mentions on Youtube, none on Reddit, none on any of the worldwide EV forums. Sure, there's plenty of time between now and nov'22 for the US preorders to show up as Nissan as promised - but it seems that same promise has already been missed in Japan so it would be logical that this would cascade forward into US/UK deliveries that are second-place behind Japan.

And as I said, given that the ID.4, MachE, Polestar, EV6 (and probably others I'm forgetting) are available now (as in, you can actually have one in your driveway tomorrow), I'm not buying this whole 'chip shortage' explanation. Certainly Nissan is using custom ASIC's (chips) that may be completely unique, but so is everyone else - including Tesla. To me (a bit of a natural cynic I guess), this just reeks of a convenient excuse to cover some larger issue... perhaps insufficient range; perhaps a problem with the new NMC battery tech, or the battery vendor... perhaps any of a number of potential mechanical or software issues with battery conditioning... or perhaps the infotainment or ProPilot2 software systems are buggy, etc - it's impossible to say. As a preorder holder and Nissan fanboy, it pains me to say that the most reasonable statement seems to be, the Ariya just isn't ready...

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KillBill

· #5 · Mar 3, 2022

A company that thinks Alexa is worth spending dev time on hasn’t got a clue. On my third Leaf but I’m not buying into Nissan’s crud anymore.

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CADGISEngr

· #6 · Mar 3, 2022

I was at the PDX auto show on Friday the 25th. I chatted up the young lady manning the area. The Ariya was one of 4 being sent around the US auto show circuit. The windows were blacked out because the model is a right hand drive. It had arrived in Portland from Seattle in the very early morning on show open Thursday. Just made it in before the show started. I do NOT like the Ariya in black because that color hides the cars lines.

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Cnote

· #7 · Mar 3, 2022 (Edited)

Maybe I missed it but I only recall them revising it for Japan now twice since they missed Feb and the US once? Just curious why you think the simplest explanation isn't the most likely, especially because Ford definitely had issues around various areas (and still does lol) and those were growing pains around building their first true EV to be manufactured in large volumes coupled with Covid hitting right after announcing the Mach E.

Now Ford is facing delays due to the chip shortage, have stopped taking orders and cars are sitting in railyards waiting on chips. I keep using Ford as my example because im still on the forums and get all the latest and greatest info and the Mach E is one of the hottest ev commodities now, but im pretty sure if supply wasnt an issue for other manufacturers as well just about everyone wouldnt be charging markups, and used cars wouldn't be priced ridiculously high because dealerships can't get enough new cars on their lots.

Rivian just jacked up their prices 20% even for existing preorders due to rising costs of components, supply chain issues, chip shortage, etc.

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