[Ford_Prefect]

Hi everyone. Recently, I read bgt_titan's Hyundai Kona EV and was inspired to write my own. I bought a Kia Niro EV earlier this year, right before the pandemic so I've had it for about ten months now. I live in the US so this may not be directly relevant to India. In some other markets around the world, the Kia Niro EV is called the e-Niro. The Kia Niro EV is the sister car to the Hyundai Kona EV. They share the same battery pack, motor and a number of common components since they are made by the same conglomerate.

So, how did I get started on my EV journey? First off, I am not a tree hugger or an early adopter. This EV replaced a perfectly good 8 year car and I bought it because, after government rebates, it cost me about the same as a petrol powered Niro.

Before I bought the Niro, I test drove the VW e-Golf
Battery Pack: 35.8 kWh
Range: 125 miles (200 km)
Power: 134 HP
Base Price: $32,790

Good: Solid car since it is based on the Golf
Bad: Poor range
Eligible for government rebates: Yes


*********************************************
Then, the Chevy Bolt
Battery Pack: 66 kWh
Range: 259 miles (414 km)
Power: 200 HP
Base Price: $36,620

Good: Good styling. GM dealer network.
Bad: Fiber panels. Feels plasticy.
Eligible for government rebates: No


*********************************************
I drove a friend's Tesla Model 3. The base model I was looking for was $35,000 which was already hard to find. Adding autopilot and black color pushed the price to $42,000. I believe autopilot is standard now.

Battery Pack: 50 kWh
Range: 220 miles (352 km)
Power: 257 HP
Base Price: $42,000

Good: Fund gadget
Bad: Price
Eligible for government rebates: No


*********************************************
Next one was the Hyundai Ioniq EV. I really wanted to like this EV but the 2019 model that was available at the time was woefully underpowered.

Battery Pack: 66 kWh
Range: 124 miles (198 km)
Power: 118 HP
Base Price: $34,295

Good: Good styling. More like a hatchback rather than an SUV or crossover.
Bad: Underpowered (Though the 2020 model has improve to 134 HP)
Eligible for government rebates: Yes


*********************************************
Then the Hyundai Kona EV. I liked this vehicle but it was only available in a two-tone paint scheme at the time and I wasn't too crazy about the two-tone paint.

Battery Pack: 64 kWh
Range: 258 miles (413 km)
Power: 201 HP (290 lb-ft torque)
Base Price: $38,365

Good: Good range and power.
Bad: Two-tone paint.
Eligible for government rebates: Yes


*********************************************
Finally, the Kia Niro EV. These are the specs as advertised.

Battery Pack: 64 kWh
Range: 239 miles (382 km)
Power: 201 HP (290 lb-ft torque)
Base Price: $39,495

Eligible for government rebates: Yes


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The Niro is slightly heavier than the Kona and slightly larger. The advertised range says 239 miles but in practice is approx. 270 miles (432 km). I would have liked to buy a Tesla Model 3, but with the configuration I preferred, with Autopilot, Black and with alloy wheels, it was pushing $42,000 and no government rebates. So, the Niro was the only one which checked all the boxes for me.

Some say you should lease an EV instead of purchasing it outright since battery technology is still evolving and probably will for another 10-20 years. In fact, the VW dealer I went to tried to persuade me to go the lease route instead of purchase, with this argument. That I could lease an EV for three years and then have a choice of a better EV after the lease ran out.

Anyhow, I ended up buying the Niro EV, which after government cashback and rebates ended up costing me the same as a gasoline Niro.



Dimensionally, I think the Niro is probably slightly larger than a Honda Fit (Honda Jazz). The CCS charging port is in the front behind a push-locked door on the right.



Some blue accent on the grill and lights



I bought the base version, so the headlight is not an LED, all other lights are.



The trunk is big enough for one large (27") and one small (20") suitcase or three small suitcases.



The rear seats are good for two. The center arm-rest comes down with two cup-holders. I believe the battery is under the seat and the floor. I haven't removed to check if that is so. If anyone's interested I will remove the rear seat to take a picture of the battery.



There is a HVAC vent for the rear passengers. I didn't expect this in a smaller vehicle this size.



Seats are ok, but not great.



Under the hood



Under the cover is the engine management unit and the primary drive motor.



The blue bottle to the top right contains the coolant or the battery. The regular 12V PbA battery on the bottom right powers the electronics.



Front view



Now some pictures of the information cluster and what they show.
This one shows the remaining range on the GoM (Guess-o-Meter). Being winter, the heater consumed quite a bit of power leading to the 2.9mi/kWh (21.55 kWh/100km).



This one shows the driving style. I usually drive conservatively.



The average mileage is slightly better at 3.6mi/kWh. I usually get 4mi/kWh (16kWh/100km).



Lane keep assist is quite aggressive. Some people don't like it. I do. I don't have a picture of the smart-cruise control setting. I will put it in a later post.



Tire pressure from the TPMS



The gear shift is in the center console. Turn the big knob left for Reverse, Center for Neutral and Right for Drive. Press the "P" to park. Turning Auto-hold stops the car when the brake is depressed and the car comes to a complete halt. The DRIVE MODE lets you select from three drive modes - Sport, Normal and Eco. I stay in Eco most of the time.



This is the primary display on the dash. It shows some more info but for the most part, it is for infotainment.



Tires are 215/55R17 Michelin Primacy MX4. I believe this is the same size tire as the Hyundai Kona EV.





So, final thoughts. This is a pretty capable small EV. In terms of size, it is good for four people and a few bags. Fitting five people in here would be a stretch. The Niro EV is particularly heavy (3854lb/1750kg) for a car this size because it is an EV. This gives the car a solid feel on highways. Like I said, I primarily drive in ECO mode and that's perfectly fine for me to zip around in the suburbs and on the highway. On local roads I usually drive at 50-80kph and 110-120kph on highways and I have not had any trouble merging with highway traffic or passing other vehicles. I have never pushed it to the max so I am not sure how fast it goes suffice to say that at 70mph/110kph, it I feel it still has enough power on reserve. Lastly, though Kia advertises a 239 miles range, in the the real world, I have driven 250 miles (400 km) with another 25 miles (40 km) to spare.

Some other thoughts. Among the bad, I will include the firm seats that are not particularly comfortable. There is no lumbar support which is disappointing considering the price point is close to a BMW 3 series. As I said earlier, the lane keeping assist in this Kia is particularly strong. I think it's a safety feature and I don't mind it. Also, the Niro allows you to select from three levels of regenerative braking. Sometimes I use the highest level regen braking to drive with one pedal in moderate traffic. I don't think you can do one-pedal driving in heavy traffic though. The Niro EV has paddles on the steering wheel that can be use to brake the car to a standstill using regen braking alone. I think it's a cool feature and I use it a lot. Some other nitpicks are because this is an EV and not necessarily because this is a Niro. For instance, the heater chews up a large part of the battery in the winter. One other nitpick is that one needs to use the included Kia EVO App to remote start the car or to turn on the climate control and this requires a monthly subscription. I think this is a blatant cash grab by Kia. Most ICE cars let you remote start the car using the key fob and you don't need to pay a subscription to get this feature.

Finally, some Niro EVs and Kona EVs have been having issues with the motor. The E700 motor in particular. After anything from 5000-10000 miles, the motor starts giving off a sound similar to a playing card hitting a moving bicycle spoke. Apparently this is a problem with the motor bearings and, fingers crossed, I hope I don't have one of these dud motors. The other issue that I have heard about and faced is the 12V battery dying even though the EV battery is fully charged. About a month after buying the car, I had my car charging in my garage overnight. When I tried starting the car the next day, the console would not light up. I checked the 12V battery and it was dead. Jumping the 12V battery started the car right up.

Overall, I love the car. Back in the day, I would change my car every couple of years but now I have a more utilitarian view of the automobile. I think this car has a good balance between affordability and driving fun.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the EVs section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car will go to our homepage tomorrow .

[SideView]

Originally Posted by Ford_Prefect

Hi everyone. Recently, I read bgt_titan's Hyundai Kona EV and was inspired to write my own. I bought a Kia Niro EV earlier this year, right before the pandemic so.

Happy Dr”EV”ing.

Why do some vehicles have rebates and others not? Is it because they have crossed the allocations for rebate?

[condor]

Nice quick review !

One question - what is the basis for govt rebates for EV's there ?

[SKC-auto]

Nice ownership review. Kia Niro is almost is the size of Hyundai Creta or Kia Seltos, it is not the same size as Honda Fit which as far as I know is less than 4 meters.

Originally Posted by condor

Nice quick review !

One question - what is the basis for govt rebates for EV's there ?

Apart from several state and utilities giving cash rebates, the federal govt has tax incentives. Also if you are paying less tax than 7500$ you will only get back what you paid for that year, it's more like a tax return but not a 7500$ cashback.

Full tax incentive of 7500$ is applicable until your manufacturer reaches 200K cars, once your manufacturer crosses 200K cars the next 2 quarters would be 3750$ as tax incentive, after that 1875$ for next 2 quarters after which no tax incentives for owners of that brand.

I guess Tesla crossed 200K cars limit in 2017, and GM in 2018 so no tax incentives for cars from these 2 brands.

These incentives are brought to speed up EV adoption but it's rewarding companies which are lethargic and in a way penalizes companies which are building more EVs, case in point Ford Mach E has full tax incentives but Tesla Model Y does not have. May be a new kind of incentives will be brought by Biden's administration as the current incentives are not helpful for American manufacturers(Tesla and GM). Also KIA and Hyundai can together have 400K cars with full tax rebates, for VW it is VW, Audi, Porsche can have together 600K cars, Tesla being a single brand only had 200K cars for full tax incentives.

[ChiragM]

Congrats on the car Ford_Prefect.

Wish Hyundai had launched the 64kWh version of the Kona here instead/along with the 32kWh variant. We could do with the extra range due to the lack of charging infrastructure.

Finally, some Niro EVs and Kona EVs have been having issues with the motor. The E700 motor in particular. After anything from 5000-10000 miles, the motor starts giving off a sound similar to a playing card hitting a moving bicycle spoke. Apparently this is a problem with the motor bearings and, fingers crossed, I hope I don't have one of these dud motors.

I had not heard about this issue. Indian owners need to be wary now. The car has too many gremlins as of now. Does the Niro face any issue regarding the battery fires and recalls that have been reported in Kona EVs? A lot of Kona EVs are lying dead in the service centres now in India.

[Ford_Prefect]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Nice ownership review. Kia Niro is almost is the size of Hyundai Creta or Kia Seltos, it is not the same size as Honda Fit which as far as I know is less than 4 meters.

Excellent explanation by SKC-auto.

The federal rebate for EVs and plug-in hybrids was introduced in 2010 and like SKC-auto says, this was a rebate on your federal tax. So if you owed the federal government $10,000 in taxes and purchased a car eligible for the full $7,500 in rebate, you will now need to pay the federal government $2,500 in taxes. On the other hand if your total federal tax liability was say $6,000, all of it will be waived and you will not get the remaining $1,500 back from the government.

The federal rebate was originally supposed to be open ended but it was knee-capped by the big three Detroit auto makers who were fearful about primarily Toyota coming in with hybrids and plug-in hybrids; Tesla was a small player then. Also playing into their fears was from fuel prices reaching record highs in 2007/2008. So, the traditional ICE automakers got the federal government to agree to a 200,000 EV/PHEV vehicle cap by automaker. After a manufacturer hits 200,000 vehicles sold, the rebate decreases to $3,750 for six months and $1,875 the next six months. Tesla exhausted all it's rebates in Dec 2019 and GM in March 2020. There was a proposal in Nov 2020 to increase the number of vehicles eligible for rebates from 200,000 to 600,000 while reducing the rebate amount to $7,000 but it was squashed by the Trump administration.

Also, there may be state and local incentives. Far as I know California has an additional incentive of $3,500 per EV, New Jersey has $5,000 per EV over 200 miles in range, Pennsylvania has $2,500 per car etc. These are given by a direct discount during purchase or the state government cuts you a check.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Edit: Forgot to add this earlier. There is an additional federal rebate for an EVSE. The rebate amount is 30% of the cost of purchasing and installing an EVSE subject to a maximum of $1,000. Some states give an additional incentive. For example, New Jersey gives an additional $500 towards purchasing and installing an EVSE. The power supply is at 120v in the US so it's is usually necessary for us to install a 240v line in our home to power an EVSE.

[Ford_Prefect]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Congrats on the car Ford_Prefect.
=====
A lot of Kona EVs are lying dead in the service centres now in India.

Yes, launching the 64kWh version or at least giving the option to customers in India would have made sense.

I have not heard of issues relating to battery fires for the Kona or the Niro. Just the ones about the motor and another issue with the 12V battery dying overnight. Here is a good resource to read through challenges being faced by Kona (and other EV) owners.

https://insideevsforum.com/community...a-electric.55/

[bgt_titan]

Congratulations on the car. Very interesting to see the perspective of EVs in another country. Considering that this car had won a few awards in the UK ahead of the Kona, I was very keen on it. Kia does have one model on display at their Andhra Pradesh factory and it does make press conference appearances. But, they don’t seem very keen on launching it in India and reports about the Seltos Electric convinced me to go ahead with the Kona.

My key takeaway is that the concerns over EVs seem to be almost similar irrespective of the region and difference in infrastructure. EVs being a relatively newer genre within cars will keep throwing up minor issues till they become much more mainstream. That’s the price I’m willing to pay as an early adopter. And also considering that none of these are issues seen in ICEs that could potentially endanger the driver (brake failure issues) or break the bank (DSG issues), I think I can sleep peacefully over it.

On the positive, I’m happy to see that you’re mentioning this is very close in price to BMW 3 series. In India, a 3 series is far away in price. And, this also means that in the case of the EV you’re paying the same price in India as anywhere else in the world, for a product with the same global standards. This was a very important factor in my purchase decision of the Kona, and definitely should be a major advantage for Kona EV.

[svsantosh]

With the runaway success stories of the Seltos and Sonet cousins, I dont think Kia would bother to introduce a new technology for time being.

India is still basking in the Kia's T-Gdi glory.

[kamilharis]

First of all Congrats on this wonderful EV.

Secondly, sorry for hijacking your thread (mods please move/delete the post if applicable). After reading your report I paid a visit to the Kia Showroom here in Saudi to check out the Niro. They had launched the Niro ECO/Hybrid here.

Here is an overview of my showroom walkaround.

The front end.


A closer look at the headlamp/DRL/Foglamp Unit


Side Profile


Closer Look at the sexy Alloy Wheels


How the car looks from the rear


The ECO/Hybridge Badging


Niro Badging


Rear Leg space after setting the seats to my comfort, Good.


Dashboard Layout


Niro badging on scuff plates


The door pad is finished very well.


The ECO/Hybrid badge has been carried over to the dash.




Comes with a small sunroof.


A Closer look at the door handle.


The chunky steering wheel was nice to hold. Not a flat bottom one.




A closer look at the gear lever unit.


SASO approval sheet (similar to our ARAI, but readings are somewhat real-world).


Dimensions of the car


Some Features


Technology (Click the picture for better readability)


Performance


Hybrid Tech






Test Drive was not available that day, will try to get one in the coming weeks. Priced slightly under 1Lakh Saudi Riyal, which translates to INR 19 Lakhs roughly.