Did Nissan lie about the charging speed of its Ariya electric car?

On paper, the Nissan Ariya promises a 20-80% recharge in just 30 minutes. But in fact, the electric car actually takes a little longer. Communication operation or real technical constraint?

Today, most manufacturers have at least one electric car in their range, while the market is accelerating and internal combustion vehicles will be banned in Europe in a few years. But for sales to grow even more, although they already overtook diesels in France in December, there are still areas for improvement. Charging infrastructure, but also the autonomy of cars, which is still insufficient for many motorists.

A major discrepancy

But that’s not all, because as it is not yet possible to cover 1,000 kilometers in one go, even if some cars come close, such as the Lucid Air, it is important to limit the time spent terminal. This is what the youtubeur Bjørn Nyland seeks to prove, who measures the time necessary for various electric cars to cover a distance of a thousand kilometers.

This is notably why manufacturers are working on the development of batteries capable of withstanding high recharging powers, while equipment manufacturers are designing ever faster terminals. We are thinking in particular of Nio and its 500 kW sockets or even Circontrol and its 400 kW in Spain. For now, the charging time record is at Kia and Hyundai, with EV6 and Ioniq 5 capable of go from 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes thanks to their 800 volt architecture.

Today, it usually takes about half an hour to fill the battery to 80%. With 30 minutes all battery announced on paper, the Nissan Ariya is therefore in the right average. But be careful, because as the site explains Challenges, the brand communicates on the 20 to 80%, which does not really change much, especially since journalists have been able to test this data. And only 29 minutes were needed to reach 80% since 20%, compared to 33 minutes since 10%.

But there is a small hiccup, which other media have also been able to note during their tests, including the site Clean Automotive. Indeed, if the SOC display (abbreviation of SState Of Chargewhich designates the gauge indicating the level of charge) indicated 99%, it took a thirty minutes more for the power delivered to drop to 3 kWwhich means charging is complete.

Upcoming update

By doing some calculations, the journalists of Challenges therefore arrived at a charging time of 34 minutes to go from 20 to 80%, due to this discrepancy. In any case, this will remain imperceptible for most customers who only very rarely top up at more than 80%. Especially since according to a report by Enedis, 85% of electric car owners plug in their vehicle at home, especially during the night. But then, is this discrepancy a way to cheat on the numbers?

Not according to Nissan, which quickly denied the rumour. The manufacturer explains in the columns of the site that ” the actual SOC depends on the safety pads necessary for battery protection in all conditions. For example, the battery is never discharged to its real zero. We have a similar buffer at high SOCs, for battery management and protection purposes“.

All constructors have similar safeties, but in other cases, it is then not possible to use this buffer, which is the difference between the gross and net capacity of a battery. However, it is indeed possible to recharge the battery of the Nissan Ariya up to its maximum useful capacity. The manufacturer’s explanation therefore seems to be a bit flawed.

Fortunately, the problem, which should not really be bothersome for customers, should soon be resolved. Indeed, the electric SUV will benefit from an update, which will probably be done remotely, in order to correct it. Thus, the gauge should announce an exact value, and will not be higher than reality. According to Clean Automotivethe Ariya would then have 78 kWh usable between 0 and 99%for a total capacity of 87 kWh.

After long months of waiting, we were able to slip behind the wheel of the Nissan Ariya near Stockholm, Sweden. Discover our first hands-on experience of the new Japanese electric SUV.
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