Nissan’s Ariya electric C-SUV range could open the door to a new type of fleet customer for the brand when it goes on sale in the UK next year, according to the manufacturer’s head of electric cars.

The electric-only model will available with a choice of power outputs and battery sizes, giving a range of up to 310 miles.

This means company car drivers will be able to consider Ariya as a household’s ‘first’ car, said Helen Perry, head of electric passenger cars and infrastructure for Nissan in Europe. Its Leaf model has been thought of as more of a household’s ‘second’ car.

Perry added: “Our objective is to offer the customer a premium experience. We try to explain that through the different battery options, through e-4ORCE and through the additional space offered, but our objective is to be priced firmly in the very heart of the C-SUV e segment.

“We expect to attract customers who may be into the coupe-crossover design, they may be interested in the electrification or they may be tech savvy, and our dealer network recognises that.

“We see Ariya is going to be super interesting to the fleet customer and the user-chooser buyer will be very interested in any of the five propositions we have on the table for Ariya.

“The environment for the UK fleet market to move to EV is very ripe and very positive.”

This includes the 0% benefit-in-kind tax rate for fully electric vehicles in the 2020/2021 tax year, which increases to 1% for the following year and 2% for the years after that.

Perry said it is absolutely key for the charging infrastructure to keep growing if the uptake of EVs

“It is key to make sure that at destinations there are enough charging points to allow people to avoid the range anxiety that sometimes customers find themselves with.”

Pricing and specification details are expected to be announced in the next few months, with first deliveries take place in the second half of 2021.

As well as Leaf, Ariya will join the e-NV200 van in Nissan’s battery electric vehicle range. The manufacturer’s ambition is that more than 50% of its line-up will be electrified by 2023.