Jonathan Gitlin
LEUCADIA, California – The Kia Niro is not a flashy car. It doesn’t have a weird origin story like its stable mate, “the boar with a backpack.” There are no sporting pretensions, nor designs to explore Moab off-the-grid. Instead, it was simply an affordable crossover for the whole family, making its way quietly and as efficiently as possible, with hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicle versions.
The Niro fills the bottom of Kia’s electrified offerings in the US, and a new second-generation Niro is on sale for model year 2023. As before, there are hybrid, plug-in hybrid and BEV versions available, and they’ve even gotten a bit cheaper, at least when you factor in four years of inflation.
Kia’s design team always gives their work interesting names and de Niro’s design philosophy is called ‘Joy for Reason’. But if you didn’t like the first Niro Offensive, you probably won’t with the new one either. Perhaps its most striking feature is the contrasting section that runs along the D-pillar behind the rear door. It’s not just for looks – it’s a functional aeroblade that controls airflow at the rear of the car to minimize drag and increase efficiency, and it can be finished in body color if desired.
Jonathan Gitlin
Inevitably, de Niro has grown a bit. But not much – about two and a half inches longer at 174 inches (4,420 mm) from nose to tail and about half an inch wider at 71.8 inches (1,824 mm). The wheelbase has also been extended slightly to 107.1 inches (2,720 mm). The height of the crossover is unchanged at 60.8 inches (1,544 mm).
De Niro Hybrid
The cheapest Niro is the one with the smallest battery, the ‘regular’ hybrid version. This starts at $26,490 for the Niro LX, but you can spend a whopping $34,790 on a Niro SX Touring with all the bells and whistles.
The Niro hybrid is powered by a 1.6 L four-cylinder direct injection gasoline engine that generates 104 hp (77 kW) and 106 lb-ft (144 Nm), which works in tandem with a 43 hp (32 kW), 125 lb-ft ( 170 Nm) permanent magnet electric motor, which is powered by a 1.3 kWh lithium-ion polymer traction battery. Together they give the Niro hybrid a total of 139 hp (104 kW) and 195 lb-ft (265 Nm) on the road, via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission that powers the front wheels.
Jonathan Gitlin
When fitted with the smallest wheels – 16-inch items in this case – the Niro hybrid is the most efficient, achieving an EPA rating of 53 mpg (4.44 l/100 km), making it one of the most efficient no plug-in cars from any automaker. Opt for the Touring package, which increases wheel size to 18 inches and drops to 49 mpg (4.8 l/100 km), an easy demonstration of the effect larger wheels have on drag and efficiency.
It is even able to detect the presence of things like residential areas, school zones and hospitals (via the GPS data) and will switch to EV mode at low speed to minimize the amount of air pollution it radiates around potentially vulnerable people. to limit.
De Niro PHEV
Jonathan Gitlin
Kia has simplified the plug-in hybrid Niro offering for 2023 by dropping the more minimalist LX, so you can choose from the Niro PHEV EX ($33,740) or the Niro PHEV SX Touring ($39,490). The most notable change to the specifications of the new Niro PHEV is a slightly larger capacity of the traction battery, now increasing from 2.2 kWh to 11.1 kWh. That corresponds to a fully electric range of 53 km, a 25 percent bump on the old car.
Under the hood of the Niro PHEV is the same 1.6 L GDI engine and six-speed transmission as the hybrid, but the electric motor is nearly twice as powerful, bringing 84 hp (62 kW) and 150 lb-ft (203 Nm) to the show , bringing the total power to 180 hp (134 kW) – the total torque remains the same as with the Niro hybrid.
Charging time for the 11.1 kWh battery is approximately three hours on a Level 2 charger, and Kia quotes 108 mpge (3.2 miles/kWh or 19.4 kWh/100 km).
