I own a Kia Niro PHEV. LX trim. So manual seats and no leather, but I was able to get a great driving position and the seats arre comfortable. We have a solar electric system at home, so I purchased a level II charger from Amazon for less than $300 and had a 220 volt socket installed near the vehicle. It charges an empty battery in 2.5 hours. Using our solar power on a sunny day and I''m driving 26 miles for FREE! (well, relatively, anyway.) Saving about $3,500 over the EX trim still gives me Google navigation on the center screen using my Android phone and Android Auto. So navigation for FREE, and it is a better display than the one you show in your review. My overall mpg in hybrid only mode has been tested several times on cloudy days, and I'm getting 45 - 50 mpg. Coupled with the EV mode on trips longer than 26 miles, and I'm getting up to 90 mpg! Of course, that's averaging the electric into the equation. An additional undocumented feature is put the gear lever into Sport mode when the battery is down to zero miles, and in about half an hour of driving, you'll recharge it. So for long trips, recharge the battery, and continue in hybrid mode until an urban area, and switch into EV mode for local driving. Fun car to drive; a lot more comfortable than the Prius's I've rented on trips. No regrets in my purchase.
I like Android Auto a lot too & use the WAZE but where you fail to realize is if your phone goes out in a area & it will at times. NO NAV and your screwed. The nav that comes with car will not be a ISSUE! Best to have BOTH!!
Thanks for the great review. Great job on it as always. I bought the Kia Niro Plug In in February 2018. Here is what I like about it. There are many wonderful features like the small lights in the side mirrors that tell you that another car is there and not to change lanes. When reversing it tells you that a car is crossing behind you or even a person. Nice. No backing into traffic or the person that won't stop even though you are backing out. The same going forwards - alarm if car in front slams on their brakes. The visibility in this car is awesome. No blind spots especially with the assistance of the car. Also, I have a hearing disability so the sound system is great for me using the phone - I can hear and turn it up as loud as I need it. The maps are great and driving directions are awesome. Shows you which lane to get in when you have five or 6 lanes and don't know which one you should be in. I am 5' 2" tall and the visor comes down to the perfect height so no glaring sun in my face. Usually they are at a height for a taller person which doesn't work for me when driving towards the sun. Sound system is very nice. It is very comfortable to sit in and drive. I had a Porsche Cayman before and it is nice to be able to step right into the seat. Also, the trunk area at the back has a sliding cover that is easy to use and the height of the trunk is perfect. No more bending down. There are so many great things about this car. I really love it. I initially liked it because of the eco friendly features. I only fill it up every 10 to 12 days or so. It would be even less if I charged it every day. It does get about 105 miles if you charge it and drive with electric and hybrid mode. If you don't charge I get about 44-48 miles per gallon. You can't really see from the video but the interior styling is quite nice with the black and light grey trim and this means it has a little bit of a luxury feel. I think it gives the car more style. I also like it a lot better than the newer Prius as I could not deal with the interior styling which seems so harsh.
I bought a Niro PHEV Premium on 2/28/18. We live in Cincinnati but bought it in Indy because the only dealer that had one here offered little in discounting. We ended up getting about $3k off and with the $4500 tax rebate it became a pretty good deal. We got 500 miles and 49 mpg on the first tank with 350 miles being highway. We have driven 270 miles on the 2nd tank and the gas gauge says we still have 451 miles to empty. Our normal driving allows us to go nearly exclusively on electric mode. It is very comfortable, in my opinion looks good and if it snows will stay in the garage so I don't care about all wheel drive. The joys of retirement. So far we couldn't be happier.
Scotty H, I looked at the latest electric bill and it had about 2 weeks for the Niro PHEV and it was no different than past electric bills, and I went back years...some higher some lower but it didn't jump out at me. We pay 6 cents/KWH and the government figures are based on 12 cents. So, we are still on the 2nd tank with 170 miles to empty on the gas gauge after 2 weeks and going 850 miles. I made a 250 mile trip which pulled down the tank. Most of the driving has been around the area and under 26 miles. There are times when we don't have time to get it back to a full charge between trips but I don't think for us we can justify putting in a level 2 charger at home. I believe we will consistently go over 1,000 miles and use around 9 gallons of gas when we fill up. Hope that helps.
Crack Lacker, sorry to be slow in responding but I lost the link and because of your inquiry I took a closer look at the paper work and found a line item for $621 for "Government Certificate of Title Fees" which made no sense to me because that was in addition to the title fee, and sales tax which was under charged by $410 and the ever popular $199 Document Fee. The dealership is still working on getting me the title so I can get plates and also in explaining the $621. So, here are the key numbers before taxes: Sticker: $35,625 which includes shipping; price for vehicle pre-sales tax and other BS was $32,400 which includes $400 military discount. When you factor in the roughly $4,500 EV tax rebate, it makes it a better deal than the straight Hybrid. Note, as far as the paper work mess, they used this fancy electronic desk and we were in a hurry so it was hard to fully understand everything. BUT, we love the car and we'll get it worked out.
I've owned a 2017 Niro LX for exactly one year now. I bought my Niro purely for the MPG. I average approx 43-44mpg in the winter and approx 46-47mpg last summer. It has nearly 22,000 highway commuting miles. Love this car. No problems at all so far.
Dude it’s an economy car... How does not having LED fog lights and heated rear seats surprise you? Especially when you can buy a 3 Series right now with incandescent headlights and pretty much no features. The car is nicely equipped for what it’s worth.
how the fuck you charge almost 50k for an economy car? For your information, my 2013 Elantra has front and rear heated seats. So he has every right to demand that.
September 28, 2018 and I'm the first buyer of the Niro PHEV at Koons Kia of Woodbridge, Va, which surprised me a great deal!! First drive home to Richmond averaged over 48 mpg with zero all electric miles (wasn't charged up prior to purchase) and traveling at speeds from 65 to 75 mph the entire trip of 95 miles. Using the "smart cruise" which is another term for adaptive cruise control, which worked really, really well (much better than in our '18 Honda Accord 2.0 Touring, btw) it was a really pleasant journey, with the excellent premium sound system by Harmon Kardon (315 watts) with a sub in the rear of the cabin. Trading in our 2012 CRV which was a decent all around car for 76,000 mis itself, the difference in the feel of this Niro from the CRV was very very stark. The Niro is MUCH more fun to drive, is more "planted", handles way better, responds to steering input much more swiftly, and is generally better in every measureable metric except interior volume of usable space. But it's not really that much smaller when it comes to usable interior space which speaks to the awesome job Kia has done with the execution of the engineering and design of this car. Yes, it's not exceptionally speedy in acceleration, but then again how can you expect a PHEV to be both very frugal AND very fast in the acceleration department. The balance of spirited performance and practicality in the economy aspect of the NIRO combines to make this vehicle a really satisfying experience, and I've NO regrets whatsoever in my decision to put one in our garage. Using the 120 volt charger that comes w/the Niro works out well, since the 6 to 8 hours for fully charging up the battery is easily accomplished overnight and is simply not inconvenient when doing so. Each day starts with exceptionally quiet and smooth driving pleasure, and if you're not a speed demon the EV mode will not transition to HEV mode for the full 25 or so miles you can expect from the charge. The media sound quality in the premium stereo is very very good overall, adding to the pleasureable experience. Looking forward to a long and happy relationship with the Niro PHEV!! Hopefully, the reliability of the mechanics and electronics will be equally satisfying in the long term. BTW, there's a RU-vid channel by B'jorn Nyland of Norway where he does extensive testing of the limits of the all-electric Niro available in Europe, and easily surpasses the 300 mile marker driving in a normal way, and honestly, if that version of the Niro were available at the time of my purchase in Virginia, it would be in my driveway right now in place of the PHEV!!! Alas, Kia is not selling that version yet in the U.S........hopefully that will change down the road.
We have a 19 niro hev touring and we love this car. I don't find it noisy or thrashy, I like the way it sounds . It's very comfortable and gets excellent gas mileage especially when its above freezing out. It has a very nice ride and handles very well. We've had it for 18 months now and like it as much now as in June 19.
We bought an EX Non-plugin regular hybrid with the tech+safety package. Kia is offering some big discounts on leftover 2017 model like ours. It is smooth, quiet and the sport mode has surprisingly good pep due to that 195Lb/Ft of torque, Feature laden, spacious and the best part is that it doesn't scream that it is a hybrid with weird quirky styling- Looking at you, Prius
MSRP was almost 30K. Kia had a $4600 offer on leases and $1500 with 0% if you finance. We financed with Kia and the dealer threw in another $1500. Note that this was a '17 model which was on the lot for a while but there's hardly any change between the years so there might be deals out there on remaining 17s. EX + Advance Tech Package is the better value over Touring.
You just have to haggle. I'm in the middle of negotiations. I found the same 2017 kia niro ex with the touring launch edition trim at 10 dealers emailed them all. I got one from 28000 OTD to 25000 OTD with 12500 on my trade in which is a strong number for my trade in. So I have 3-4 others dealers wanting to beat what offer by 500$ so I'm going to trickle through them til I get the lowest offer. #scamthescammer
I test drove one and found it really slow and jerky off the line. Maybe I was just being too sensitive. How does it feel to drive for you? I haven't owned a hybrid. We have an ICE car and an EV.
So what do you think the title of this channel is? He also takes a look at the performance of the car as well. Being that it has electric motor, he wanted to test to see how it handles.
Thank you for this review. I am actually looking at possibly leasing the standard hybrid version soon. I have been driving a Kia Optima GDI for the last 3.5 years, and love it. I am really sold on the features that Kia's have compared to more expensive vehicles.
I saw this car and I believe is a kind of hatchback rather than a SUV. It’ has a particularly low roof but overall I like it. Kia is making a lot of good cars lastly, and the new stinger is an example.
I was impressed with the Toyota Prius Prime's bold looks when I first saw it on a Toyota dealership. I'd brought my friend to one for his first car because of their reliability reputation and I saw the prime on display and I was like what the fuck is that?! And I walked around back only to find it was a prius. P.S. he chose Nissan instead 😎
Did you buy a plug in Niro? Did you try an Outlander PHEV, Volt, Fusion, or Clarity? I am not sure what I want, just looking for opinions... thanks... good luck.
We have a 19 niro hybrid touring , it's a very nice car and about doubles the gas mileage of our last car. By the way this 1,6 engine is not the same as the one in the Rio. The sound doesn't bother me at all because it isn't a cvt. It's for sure an excellent car.
Thanks for a great review! This seems to be a good car to replace my TDI Golf that I’m turning back to VW this year. This will be mainly a city driver with occasional use as a getaway car when escaping hurricanes here in south Florida. I have another car for out of town regular trips. With the $4500 tax rebate for plug-in hybrids, this car should be very competitive price-wise for what you get.
Is it me or am I the one that saw the right side of the car there’s no chrome door trims until you get to the C-D pillar whereas the left side the chrome trims was throughout?
Kia really has a winner with this Niro platform, tons of features and "normal" design versus other weird hybrid cars. Wish this was priced a bit lower, you do get the $4.5K tax credit for this so that helps a bit.
Ty for another great review man. My only questions remain are regarding staying in EV mode. If you sneeze to hard will it knock it into HV? Just curious how badly you gotta feather it. Also, does the engine kick on after a certain top speed or need to kick in for highway speeds? Cause with a plug-in I would be try not to use gas, period. I got a 23 mile commute. :P
On my worst winter tank I got barely under 40 MPG with heavy highway driving. Now I average well over 50. You would be getting better figures than that 37-38 now.
I know you mentioned HID's are a little dated, but having both HID and LED headlights that are OEM, HID offers better light output. Just a little brighter, better light on the road, and doesn't wash out as much when it is raining out.
If anyone notices, the left side of the car has the full chrome trine around the windows. The right side is missing the chrome on the two right doors, but has it on the rear quarter window
If you have a level 2 charger for a chevy volt you can use the same charger for this plug in. I just discovered this tonight. I don't know if the level 2 charger is the same for all plug ins or not.
I have owned a Lx with tech package for almost a year. It is great 50+ mpg average for last 5000miles mixed driving with an average of 200lbs cargo. My friends call it the hero!
I want to buy a hybrid around 20 to 25 thousand dollars but these three cars in cumming in my list so can you tell me which one is good for daily purpose use
Why there's no solar cell roofing in any of these vehicles, it wouldn't need so much batteries and would make the emissions even cleaner when used to make hydrogen on demand and load small battery when not driving.
PLATINUM agreed, hid is a better light then led, but people just like led because its the newest thing out. In rain and snow hid and even halogen will out perform led.
Not much that can be done about it as LED lights use less energy than any bulb light and it contributes to fuel economy which manufacturers have to improve. I like Xenon better though.
I had a 2001 Acura CL Type S, the low beam were HID's, high beam was halogen. Then I bought a 2004 Acura TL, bi-xenon headlights, incredible light output. After seven years, bought OSRAM nightbreaker HID's for the TL, were even brighter and great output in the rain. I definitely agree, HID's are better then LED. After years, bought an 18 Crosstrek with LED headlights, and the HID's were definitely better. I did put aftermarket LED's on a 2005 Jeep Liberty, and they are very bright and work great, they don't scatter light like early builds of aftermarket LED bulbs. I set them to the correct adjustment, and not one person high beamed me.
Yeah no remote start. Because of special needs I really need a remote. I was impressed with the test drive of the non plug in and so disappointed when I found there wasn’t a remote. Even KIAs entry level Rio has remote and that’s using satellite tech. The dealership couldn’t explain nor could they found out In my opinion the Forte EX offers the most bang for the buck. This will be my third KIA. I also have to say “ this is the first Korean car other than the Hyundai Elantra Sport that you haven’t trashed “.
As I understand it, this Niro PHEV uses coolant within the Internal Combustion Engine to heat the cabin so it would be considered a waste of energy to preheat the car. Some other PHEV vehicles use heat exchangers or electric resistive elements for cabin heating. I'm not sure if the heated seats and steering wheel can be turned on remotely, ala remote start. The Niro also makes it possible to only supply heating/cooling to the driver if travelling alone.
Why is there a chrome trim around the D pillar window, and black plastic all around the other windows. It looks like it was accidented and the doors were replaced from a non chromed version
I also noticed the passenger side is like that, and the drivers side is all chromed. This is why I have an issue with Hyundai/Kia vehicles, I have seen this on a brand new Santa Fe just recently
37 mpg? dude u must be GUNNING it constantly...lol I own the 19 PHEV Niro ex ...Im getting well over 120mpe.... here is the key that was NOT discussed...if you MOSTLY drive around town 20-25mi per day....well then your can get near infinite mpe...lol (at one point i had 450 mpe...) my last fill up i got 980 mi/8gal and those miles included 350 mi rt trip from 5k ft elevation to 10kft mountain weekend getaway where the niro is not exactly the car of choice.......inane really... LOVE this car even if it wasnt a phev... oh and yeah... 9500 in tax rebates...5K in colorado...4500 federal... i was able to get 3K off sticker (rare but possible if u are a good negotiator) and 500 from kia finance....out the door (after taxes) this was a 21k car..crazy value... highly recommend buying one
my 2017 trailhawk engine sucks thats for sure, its so jerky it drives me nuts and the mpg is sooo low, I should have waited for the 2019, but now will look for a PHEV, so man to choose from now!
thatoriordanlad surprise is adding a rear electric motor actually IMPROVES efficiency. You get added traction and power, but also get extra regen braking which is lost to brakes on the rear axle. Both the Rav4 Hybrid and Outlander PHEV do this and they work brilliantly
The Outlander PHEV is nice with the AWD option, but it only get 25MPG. The motor bigger and has more HP, I wish it had more options in it, like cooled seats and heated rear I probably would buy it, but that is a lame reason... lol. I cannot decide which PHEV to get... The prime just seems too small, but it really is not... The Volt looks nice. I want something that drives decent in the winter, any thoughts on that? Thanks..
Not much choice of AWD EV right now. You can try for a used Tesla but buying one is just stupid given their reliability & insane repair costs. The Outlander PHEV is the closest you can get with a plug, but there are TONS coming down the pipe for 2019 - the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron quattro, Mercedes EQC, Volvo XC40 EV, BMW iX3 and perhaps even left-field options from China such as the Byton M-byte. P.S. I have been living with the Outlander PHEV for 6 months now and 25MPG is kind of stupid unless you run with the heater or AC at full blast and drive at 85mph+ constantly. For most daily commutes I can do almost 95% on electric with the last few miles on EV, making it closer to 100MPG. On a long road trip with no charging, the car averages ~30MPG city and ~26MPG highway if you do ~10mph above speed limits.
Thanks, I just wish it had a few more features like cooled seats and things like that... but this is good info. My daily work commute round trip is 14 miles. I think this would work for me then as well... appreciate it!
Kia's interior and exterior styling beats anything Nissan, Honda, or Toyota is doing. Also, I don't get the point of a "flat bottom" steering wheel, why would anyone need or want that?
A big one. I currently have 8 car tires in the back of mine(with the seats folded down)! I would not feel safe putting a dog in the back with the seats up tho, it would fit but coulden't be very safe in a accident.
Kia needs to refine their engines and make them a little smoother, perhaps take a note from Honda Engines. Other than that Kia Niro is a good car to buy.
Marc Spunt Some DCT Transmissions can be a bit jerky under certain shifting conditions Ford has had a significant issue with this from what I have heard. I drove a Hyundai ioniq which has the same transmission and it seemed very smooth both upshift and downshift go take one first spin either the Hyundai ioniq or the Kia Niro are based on the same Powertrain with a different body shape. the base model of the ioniq is the most fuel efficient hybrid you can buy in the US but it's lacking some features.
kens97sto171 thanks. I have had a Tucson which was great a Santa Fe which was not and now a Cherokee which was really bad but they fixed the trans issue so it’s a lot better now. I still want a Volt or Clarity for the longer EV range. Thinking more will come out as well. Thanks I may still drive the ioniq.