2022 Kia Niro Hybrid and Electric Australian prices and features

One of the most popular car brands in Australia is preparing to launch a new small SUV that will halve your fuel bills.

2022 Kia Niro Hybrid.

A new Kia SUV will be able to keep an eye on novice drivers and warn parents when they’re doing the wrong thing behind the wheel – but it comes at a cost.

Advanced new telematics technology available on the Niro hybrid and electric SUV allows parents to monitor their kids’ driving.

Kia is preparing to launch its new Niro Hybrid and Electric SUV.

Known as Kia Connect, the system uses an integrated SIM for data transfer and provide real-time updates and warnings to a smartphone.

To debut on the new Niro that is priced from $48,000 drive-away – thousands more than hybrid rivals – Kia Connect can alert a call centre after a crash, lock or unlock the car and adjust the cabin temperature remotely.

It can alert the owner if the car has been broken into and even remotely shut the car down via a call centre in the event of theft.

The hybrid is priced from $48,000 drive-away.

It can also monitor how and where the car is being driven when in the hands of a “third party”, providing real time data on driving while also limiting access to infotainment functions.

There are also programmable speed alerts and geo-fencing limits that can warn if the car is driven at an excessive speed or ventures outside pre-defined boundaries.

Kia Australia product planning manager Roland Rivero believes the new smartphone-enabled system will appeal to businesses and parents.

The electric version is priced from $71,000.

“There’s a benefit to a fleet manager and there’s benefit to mums and dads,” he says, explaining that the car can log every journey, including its average and top speeds.

The new Kia Niro is the latest electrified vehicle for Kia as it looks to ramp up its EV offerings.

While it will be available as a petrol-electric hybrid, it’s the pure electric EV model that Kia expects to account for about 60 per cent of a modest 75 sales each month. That’s despite a circa-$21K leap to the EV that sees prices similar to those of the Tesla Model 3 and Kia’s own EV6 (which will soon undergo a price rise).

Kia claims the hybrid sips just 4L/100km of fuel.

Entry-level S models ($48,000 for the Hybrid and $71,000 for an EV) miss out on some of the fancy tech but get dual-zone ventilation, alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, auto braking, blind spot warning, eight airbags and an 8.0-inch infotainment screen.

The GT-Line (about $55,000 as a Hybrid and $78,000 as an EV) features Kia Connect and also gets heated and ventilated front seats, electric seat adjustment, heated steering wheel, head-up display, digital instrument cluster, wireless phone charging, digital instrument cluster, 64-colour ambient lighting, smart key entry and a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen.

The GT-Line EV can also be used to charge other EVs, power a campsite or recharge a laptop using its vehicle-to-load functionality.

The interior is packed with hi-tech features.

The Hybrid is powered by a modest 1.6-litre engine teamed to a 32kW/170Nm electric motor driving the front wheels through a six-speed twin-clutch auto. Combined they make 104kW and 265Nm. Average fuel use is claimed at 4.0 litres per 100km.

The EV gets a 150kW electric motor driving the front wheels through a single-speed reduction gear, but its torque has dropped by 140Nm to 255Nm. Average electricity use is 16.2kWh/100km, equating to about $4.50 per 100km.

The Niro Electric has a 64.8kWh battery with a WLTP range of 460km and can be charged from 10-80 per cent in as little as 43 minutes when using a public DC fast charger.

Charging at home from a regular powerpoint would take about 29 hours or as little as six hours using a wallbox.