2019 Kia Niro EV Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The Niro EV is dull. It’s not ugly, offensive, or anything regretful you’d later scrub off your timeline. Judging how my gray-on-black example was a loaded EX Premium Launch Edition, priced at $45,995, it looks this drab on purpose. Normcore is a throwback fashion style in which today's 20-somethings dress like their parents did in the early 1990s. Thick-rimmed glasses with oversized gray Champion sweaters are the bare minimum. A pair of jeans with rolled-up cuffs and a phone bulge—Bluetoothed to white airpods in each ear—are normcore’s few modern flourishes. The Niro EV, for better but mostly worse, makes this statement. This car erases what little excitement there was on the regular Niro Hybrid, such as the swooshy 18-inch wheels, and the contrasting rear skid plate and trim flowing around the license plate. Minimalism is one thing, but dowdiness is another. The flat 17-inch wheels, formless silhouette, and cheap-looking bumper cutouts aren’t offset by the teal accents, the arrow-shaped LED running lamps (available on only the Launch Edition), or the solid grille, each of which are unique to the EV. Kia makes $40,000 cars that are flat-out "wow" (the Stinger sedan) or utterly handsome (Telluride SUV), so the Niro’s design is disappointing. Compared to the visual excitement pouring from Kia’s other economy cars and crossovers (Soul, Forte, Sportage), it’s unacceptable.

The interior makes amends with LED ambient lighting and gloss black door panels with raised dark teal accents. Kia separated the center console from the center stack to create open storage, and perched a hockey-puck-style shifter by the driver’s hand. Material quality, fit, and finish are good for a car in this category, and the additional gloss black trim on the dash and more matching teal stitching on the seats and steering wheel (plus teal-colored air vent surrounds) are welcome. The speed and range numbers on the instrument panel—hastily converted from analog gauges—appear like early LCDs did in the 90s. Who was in charge? I’d really like to attend the meeting for the Niro redesign.

The EPA rates the Niro EV at up to 239 miles per charge. Kia says you can recharge the 64-kilowatt-hour battery from dead to 80% in less than an hour. During my winter test, neither claim held up. Even the best and most affordable modern EVs (like this Kia) are optimized for stop-and-go city driving, overnight home charging, and the temperate weather of Los Angeles. They can deal with a two-hour trip to Boston—as I did in the cold, facing elevation changes, at constant highway speeds—but they can’t make the trip home. Upon fully charging the battery, the Kia showed a range of 226 miles in normal driving mode. When I pulled into Copley Square, a total distance of 120 miles, the range showed 85 miles. I briefly left the car on a Level 2 charge for an hour where the station could output only 5.9 kilowatts—that’s six percent of the Niro EV’s 100-kilowatt capability. As such, the charge was almost useless. Later that evening, I attended a college hockey game with my best friend and couldn’t charge in the two stations provided in the garage. So we left, on a 30-degree night with about 80 miles, until reaching an EVGo DC fast-charge station at a rest stop. At 40 kW, the Niro EV charged from about 20 percent to 70 percent after the station’s 45-minute timer expired. With 107 of the 120 miles left in our trip and 130 miles showing on the dash, I figured we’d be fine. I got home with barely three-percent of the battery left (5 miles) as the car switched itself into a low-power mode. This was a stressful, long, drawn-out story that repeated itself over the week I had with the car. Why should any new car have to be like this? Kia’s advertised range isn’t so much a lie as it is evidence that all EVs—no matter the manufacturer—cannot travel moderate distances without multiple, time-sapping fill-ups. At least the powertrain is among the most efficient EVs, with an EPA-estimated 123 MPGe city, 102 highway, and 112 combined.

If you charge on a Level 2 connection every night and drive the Niro all the time in optimum conditions, you won’t have an issue. It’s fun to drive, actually. The electric motor produces 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque, sent through a single gear to the front wheels. That’s far more powerful than the hybrid powertrains in the regular Niro and Niro Plug-In. But unlike other EVs that zip off the line, the Niro EV can’t put all that power down in Sport mode, as the traction control cuts the acceleration. With traction off, the Niro EV lights up its front tires like a high-schooler. All-wheel drive is unavailable. But once you get it going, the Niro EV is zippy.

The steering feel is accurate and the brakes feel natural, without the artificial regenerative sensations I felt in the Jaguar I-Pace. The Niro EV is also really smart with regen braking. Holding the right steering wheel paddle will activate an auto mode where the car’s radar sensors pace the vehicle in front. It will slow the car down for you and increase braking gradually until you apply the brake pedal. Or you can choose one of three regen modes that vary from light to aggressive one-pedal driving, where you almost never touch the brakes. You can also shut it off entirely to coast. This is intuitive and very useful. While the ride is cushy, the minimal grip and excessive body roll convinced me the Niro EV does not like to be hustled on tight roads. For everyday driving, it’s great. But like the car’s exterior style, you won’t find much sportiness behind the wheel.

The Niro EV’s bland design works wonders for the car's practicality. Every seat, while lacking in lateral support, is roomy and spacious by any measurement. There are 18.5 cubic feet of cargo space in the trunk, and 53 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. Storage is fantastic, with a large central cubby that opens its sliding door to reveal the coolest cupholders I’ve ever seen. Push the spring-loaded holders against the sides to use a flat, fully open storage bin. Press two buttons and the cupholders retract into their normal position. You’ll have to watch our video review to see it in action. It’s incredibly useful and simple. Additional cord cutouts in the storage bin let you route cables neatly to the outside, where there’s lots of open space and USB charging ports below the center stack. A wireless charging pad is nearby.

The instrument panel may look dated, but it’s easy to read while driving. So is the main infotainment screen, with an EV app that shows you how much the accessories draw from the battery and the estimated time to charge at various voltage levels. The stereo and climate controls are well-marked. The steering wheel controls for the multi-function display in the instrument cluster work in the same way. Daily-driving in the Niro EV is a conventional experience. It’s intuitive and not at all intimidating.