Photo: SB-Medien
After hybrids and plug-ins, the Korean automakers are rushing to develop a full range of electric cars. Yesterday, we saw the Hyundai Elantra EV for the first time, followed today by the Kia Niro EV, a vehicle we know about for quite some time.
The Niro is built on top of a green car platform. Its sister car, the Hyundai Ioniq, already has an EV version, fitted with a 28 kWh battery that gives it a real-world range of just over 100 miles.
We think that's nowhere near enough, especially considering new benchmarks are being set by the Tesla Model 3 and Chevy Bolt. With that battery, the Niro probably won't even be able to compete with the Nissan Leaf.
The recent Niro EV concept, presented at the 2018 CES, at least gives us hope. It featured a 200 horsepower motor over the front axle and a whopping 64-kilowatt-hour lithium-polymer battery good for 238 miles of range. Coincidently, the latter is the same number as the Chevy Bolt, while the power is a 33% increase over the Leaf.
By comparison, the Ioniq EV only boasts 118 horsepower and 124 miles of range under the best conditions.
The production version, seen here undergoing winter testing, also borrows the streamlined front end from its concept equivalent. The front grille has been blocked off, obviously, but we think a few other styling tweaks are happening underneath that heavy wrap. Of course, this could also be a mid-life refresh for the whole Niro family.
Another feature that should be borrowed from the concept is a pedestrian protection system whereby an "engine sound" is produced by an outside speaker... you know, so people don't jump in the middle of the street because they didn't hear you.
Unless we're mistaken, this would be Kia's first full-electric production car, after the tiny Rey EV and Soul EV. The latter, while not a sales success, was still one of the cheapest and best equipped electric cars you could buy.
Like it or not, Kia is going green, as it announced it would launch as many as 16 electric or electrified models in the next seven years.
We think that's nowhere near enough, especially considering new benchmarks are being set by the Tesla Model 3 and Chevy Bolt. With that battery, the Niro probably won't even be able to compete with the Nissan Leaf.
The recent Niro EV concept, presented at the 2018 CES, at least gives us hope. It featured a 200 horsepower motor over the front axle and a whopping 64-kilowatt-hour lithium-polymer battery good for 238 miles of range. Coincidently, the latter is the same number as the Chevy Bolt, while the power is a 33% increase over the Leaf.
By comparison, the Ioniq EV only boasts 118 horsepower and 124 miles of range under the best conditions.
The production version, seen here undergoing winter testing, also borrows the streamlined front end from its concept equivalent. The front grille has been blocked off, obviously, but we think a few other styling tweaks are happening underneath that heavy wrap. Of course, this could also be a mid-life refresh for the whole Niro family.
Another feature that should be borrowed from the concept is a pedestrian protection system whereby an "engine sound" is produced by an outside speaker... you know, so people don't jump in the middle of the street because they didn't hear you.
Unless we're mistaken, this would be Kia's first full-electric production car, after the tiny Rey EV and Soul EV. The latter, while not a sales success, was still one of the cheapest and best equipped electric cars you could buy.
Like it or not, Kia is going green, as it announced it would launch as many as 16 electric or electrified models in the next seven years.
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