Kia Niro News
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It happened again. At this week's New York auto show media days, a manufacturer rolled out yet another vehicle that it calls a "crossover" despite that vehicle having neither the ground clearance nor the all-wheel drive to qualify as a light truck. The car in question was the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric, a 250-mile battery-electric vehicle more accurately described as a subcompact five-door hatchback. DON'T MISS: 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric US debut: 250 miles of range from small electric car Its gasoline counterpart, the conventional Kona, offers 6.7 inches of ground clearance and optional...
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2018 Kia Niro preview
Most highly fuel-efficient dedicated hybrids are compact five-door hatchbacks, the most popular vehicle segment globally. When Korean maker Kia was drawing up plans for its first dedicated hybrid vehicle, it took a different path. The wagon it came up with—it calls the Kia Niro a crossover...
John Voelcker -
Kia Niro EV concept at CES: 238 miles of range from 64-kwh battery
It's well known that a battery-electric version of the Kia Niro will join the lineup soon, completing a range that now comprises the Niro Hybrid and the recently launched plug-in hybrid. Most observers had assumed the Niro EV would use the same underpinnings as its corporate sibling the Hyundai...
John Voelcker -
Concept for Kia Niro EV all-electric wagon to appear at CES
We've long known that the Kia Niro wagon would get an all-electric version to accompany the 2017 Niro Hybrid and the just-launched 2018 Niro Plug-In Hybrid. The battery-electric Niro will fill out the suite of six cars sharing the same underpinnings, with the others being the same three versions of...
John Voelcker -
Electric car charging on the road has to be way, way better than it is today
A couple of weeks ago, we charged a 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid 15 times within two days. It was part of a contest during a two-day press drive for the car—though we were beaten by the team that charged their Niro a stunning 31 times in little more than 30 hours. But our experience...
John Voelcker -
2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid first drive review (pricing from $28,840)
Some plug-in hybrid models are easily distinguishable from the rest of the cars their maker sells. Others, like the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid, are all but invisible. It takes a sharp eye to see the charging port door on the left-front fender or the trim and badging differences that distinguish...
John Voelcker -
Both Hyundai and Kia planned to approach the electric and plug-in car market aggressively, but now the Korean siblings plan to boost production even over totals announced earlier this year. This past summer, both brands said they would increase their electrified car production to 50,000 units next year. Now, according to a report earlier this week, the brands now target a combined 100,000 plug-in cars produced in 2018—thanks to increases in Kia Niro electric and Hyundai Kona electric production. DON'T MISS: Hyundai Kona small SUV revealed, with electric version to come The revised...
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2018 Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid to launch in U.S. at end of year
Last month, the Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid went on sale in the United Kingdom, offering British buyers a mass-priced compact wagon with 25 to 30 miles of electric range. While it shares its underpinnings with the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In model, the Niro has more of a wagon shape than Hyundai's five-door...
John Voelcker -
Which green cars didn't make the list for Best Car To Buy 2018?
After the usual intense discussions and debates, we announced our three finalists for the Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2018 award earlier this week. The Tesla Model 3 was not among them, because we have to drive a car in order to evaluate it as a finalist—and Tesla declined to provide us...
John Voelcker -
2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid goes on sale in UK
The Kia Niro Hybrid has been on sale in the United States since early 2017, but at its launch, the brand promised a plug-in hybrid version would arrive by the end of this year as well. Ahead of its U.S. launch, the Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid has now arrived in the United Kingdom with a 36-mile rated...
Sean Szymkowski -
Chatbot for Kia Niro hybrid vs driving the actual car
A chatbot would never lie to you, right? That’s what I wanted to find out when I tested a Facebook Messenger chatbot for the 2017 Kia Niro crossover, which recently won the Guinness Book of World Records for the lowest fuel consumption for a hybrid vehicle. (It was an interesting competition...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
2017 Kia Niro: gas mileage review
However you choose to view the 2017 Kia Niro hybrid—Kia says it's a crossover utility, we call it a wagon—it's a good-looking and relatively capacious small car. The debate over segments comes because the Niro has neither the ground clearance of a utility vehicle nor available all-wheel...
John Voelcker -
South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia often share the underpinnings of their vehicles, though there's no "badge engineering" and the two brands compete in the marketplace. The recent Kia Niro hybrid wagon and the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid hatchback, for instance, share the same powertrain, platform, and other hidden components. But while the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric will reach California dealers in April, its sibling brand continues on with the all-electric Kia Soul EV. DON'T MISS: 2017 Kia Niro hybrid: first drive report Now in its third model year, the Soul EV is an adapted version of Kia's...
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2017 Kia Niro hybrid 'crossover' wagon priced from $23,800
Almost a year after it was unveiled at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show, the 2017 Kia Niro hybrid is finally going on sale. The Niro is Kia's first dedicated hybrid vehicle, and the Korean carmaker has taken an unusual tack in describing its new model. Kia calls the Niro a crossover, but its relatively...
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Kia Niro hybrid: first drive report
According to its maker, the 2017 Kia Niro is the first "crossover hybrid vehicle" sold in the U.S.—but what does that really mean? We drove150 miles in two different versions of the top-of-the-line Niro Touring model two weeks ago, and concluded that the Niro represents an interesting package...
John Voelcker -
Which green cars didn't make the cut for Best Car To Buy award?
We have a slim field of only three new green cars this year competing for the Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy award. They are the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, the 2016 Tesla Model X, and the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. There's a much longer list of new vehicles that didn't make the cut this year;...
John Voelcker -
2017 Kia Niro preview
The 2017 Kia Niro hybrid crossover goes on sale later this year.
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Kia Niro hybrid SUV: are electric, AWD versions in the works?
The 2017 Kia Niro, slated to go on sale late this year, will be Kia’s first dedicated hybrid, for which there's an entirely unique body style. Yet compared to other such hybrid-exclusive vehicles, like the Toyota Prius family, the former Honda Insight, and the upcoming Hyundai...
Bengt Halvorson -
The 2017 Kia Niro "hybrid utility vehicle" revealed this morning at the Chicago Auto Show marks the South Korean brand's ambitious entry into dedicated hybrids. While dedicated hybrids have traditionally been hatchbacks--think Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, even the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt--none have yet been designed as crossover utility vehicles. Even better, Kia promises that there's a Niro plug-in hybrid version coming after the conventional hybrid launches late this year. DON'T MISS: 2017 Kia Optima Hybrids: Details On 27-Mile Plug-In Hybrid Given that the larger, heavier Kia Optima...