Kia Niro electric vehicle charges a sizeable premium

The automotive industry is being tipped on its head as the price of cars and SUVs from mainstream brands creeps into luxury territory.

The Niro small SUV is Kia’s first full electric vehicle in Australia. It’s a toe in the EV water ahead of Kia’s eagerly anticipated EV6 in 2022, but it’s far from cheap. Here are five things you should know.

It’s a lot of cash for a small Kia

Electric cars are expensive due to high battery costs but at $70,990 drive-away this Niro EV Sport’s sticker price is tough to swallow. A cheaper ‘S’ grade is $67,490 on the road, but that’s still pricier than the range-topping – and excellent – seven-seat Kia Sorento GT-Line diesel. Electric buyers have many alternatives for circa $70k, including the best-selling Tesla

Model 3 (about $63,000), Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range (about $69,000) and our Car of the Year winner Hyundai Ioniq 5 (about $78,000). A tough crowd.

Kia’s Niro Electric has impressive range but it comes at a cost. Picture: Supplied.

It has excellent electric range

The Niro’s huge 64kWh battery offers an impressive range of 455 kilometres. EV owners tend to be urban types, so it’s rare a Niro would be asked to travel further without a break to recharge. Our test returned an average of 15.6kWh/100km, less than Kia’s official figures. Much like the Hyundai Kona (it uses the same 64kWh battery and offers 484km range) the Kia’s ‘kilometres remaining’ readout could be trusted and achieved, minimising the dreaded range anxiety.

The cabin’s spacious but dull

The Niro’s a small SUV but its 451-litre boot and cabin space are excellent.

It doesn’t quite challenge Kia’s Sportage for rear room, but bigger kids or two adults are well accommodated. Up front the experience is decidedly average. It’s spacious but the interiors of Kia’s $70k Carnival, Sorento or Stinger are properly luxe – the Niro Sport’s feel at least one rung down. It’s a victim of being an older Kia design. Some hard cabin plastics and single-tone black faux-leather trim feel far from special, but you do get a 7-inch instrument cluster, JBL premium audio, 10.25-inch wide-screen infotainment and decent driver-assist equipment. But there’s no 360-degree reversing camera, head-up display, heated or cooled seats, dual-zone climate control, rear USB ports, wireless charging, wireless CarPlay/Android Auto or power tailgate. That’s a bit stingy.

The Niro’s cabin is well put together but a little bland. Picture: Thomas Wielecki.

The drive’s comfortable and decent fun

Rather wonderfully, Kia’s Virtual Engine Sound System (VESS) has the Niro sounding like a vertical takeoff Star Wars craft as it pulls way. There’s decent urge from the 150kW/395Nm single motor up front, especially in Sport mode. It gets all eager and punchy with immediate zip to dart between urban traffic. It can be a bit bouncy over city bumps, but shows nice balance and grip on twisty roads, with instant torque at the prod of your right foot. Charging is pretty easy. Kia provides a portable charger to plug in to a household socket and you go from zero to 100 per cent charge in 29 hours. An AC wallbox charger (about $1500) does the same job in nine and a half hours, while common public 50kW DC fast chargers do so in 75 minutes.

The Kia Niro is fun to drive. Picture: Thomas Wielecki.

It may pay to wait

Early next year the electric Kia EV6 arrives and will trump the Niro EV in almost every department. Its design is red carpet while the Niro’s is Plain Jane, and the EV6 cabin looks futuristic and fabulous. Unlike the Niro its chassis is tuned by Kia’s Australian dynamics team, while interior space looks mighty. An entry-level EV6 will cost an estimated $80,000 – and the local market will only receive 500 in 2022 – but it’s the Kia EV to drop your hard-

earned on.

KIA NIRO ELECTRIC SPORT

PRICE From $70,990 drive-away

SAFETY 7 airbags, auto emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot

detection, lane-keep assist

MOTOR single electric motor, 150kW and 395Nm. 64kWh battery

THIRST 15.9kWh/100km. Range 455km

CARGO 451 litres

SPARE Repair kit