Family car first, hybrid second
Never mind the eco-power, just embrace the SUV in the new Niro, says Kia. David Linklater reports.
After the evaluation of two cars in New Zealand last year, Kia has been given the green light to launch the Niro hybrid-SUV in the Kiwi market. It’s on sale in New Zealand in three different versions: our EX test car is the entry-level model.
Oh, a new Kia. So which kind of Hyundai is this then?
Hyundai is indeed the parent company of Kia and yes, the two do share many platforms and components between different models. That’s no big deal really and no different to the Volkswagen Group having a portfolio of different brands. By the way, Hyundai and Kia aren’t the same company in terms of New Zealand distributorship: Hyundai is a Kiwiowned company, while Kia is a factory operation.
More to the point, Kia does its own thing much of the time. So while the Niro is based on the same platform as the Hyundai Ioniq, it’s a small SUV rather than a Toyota Prius-esque hatchback.
Indeed, Kia NZ doesn’t want to make a big deal about Niro being a hybrid. It would prefer you to think of it as a small SUV that just happens to be super-economical.
OK, but it’s still a hybrid and this is 2018, so shouldn’t it have a plug?
Our Niro EX test car is indeed a ‘‘conventional’’ hybrid in that it combines a petrol engine with battery pack, but can’t be charged from an external source. There’s method in offering this model: it allows Kia NZ to get Niro into the small-SUV market at under $40k, which is where there’s a lot of volume potential. The basic EX also rides on modest 16-inch wheels, which gives it bragging rights as a more economical car than the upmarket $43,990 Niro Limited with the same powertrain and 18in rims: 3.8l/100km versus 4.4l.
It’s not exactly basic. The EX still gets autonomous braking, rear parking camera/sensors, lane-keep assist, tyre pressure monitor, cruise control, climate air and a seveninch touch screen with phone projection.
If you really want a Niro with a plug you can have one. The Niro Limited PHEV can be recharged externally and covers a claimed 55 kilometres on battery power before it reverts to hybrid operation. But it’s a tad pricey: at $55,990, it’s $21,000 more than the launch price for our still-thrifty EX.
Eco-tech always seems to entail compromise. What are we missing out on with Niro?
Not much. The beauty of having an electric-car-specific platform is that the powertrain and packaging are pretty well sorted. Performance is acceptable without being exciting, but the surprise-and-delight thing about Niro is that it has a proper six-speed gearbox rather the usual hybrid-compatible continuously variable transmission. That’s because Kia has a clever thing called a Transmission Mounted Electronic Device (TMED) that allows both petrol battery power to drive the wheels together, instead of having to mix it all in a yucky CVT soup.
It’s very good at running on battery power for short bursts and it actually handles very well for what’s essentially a family SUV on teeny-tiny wheels.
The 45-litre fuel tank and lithium-ion battery pack (which weighs less than 35kg) fit side-byside under the rear seat, so you get a reasonable 401-litre boot and rear seats that split/fold 60/40 for larger loads. The wheelbase is actually 30mm longer than the otherwise-larger Sportage SUV, so rear passengers are well served for legroom.
Speaking of SUVs – the Niro really isn’t one, is it?
It’s marginal. Kia justifies SUV-status on the strength of Niro being a bespoke two-box body shape, but there’s definitely a hatchback look and feel about it. It’s 50mm lower than the sister Sportage, for example.
Niro is front-drive, of course – but then so are lots of small-medium SUVs.
It has more ground clearance than your average small car and almost as much as the Sportage (160mm versus 172mm). Not that the Sportage is the ultimate in rockhopping.
Probably the main thing that makes Niro a head-scratcher as an aspiring SUV is its weirdly low-key styling.
It has little of the chunky styling detail that you’d expect from this genre and the interior, while wellmade in the expected Kia fashion, could be any small car really. Curious when it comes from the company that brought us the outthere Soul and Stinger models.
Any other cars I should consider?
That depends: do you want a smallmedium SUV or an inexpensive hybrid? Because the Niro is really the only car on the market that combines both those things.
There’s a mountain of choice in the small SUV market: everything from the Mazda CX-3 to the Subaru XV. Or you can keep it in the family with the Kia Soul or Hyundai Kona.
Hybrids are trickier. It’s Toyota’s speciality technology and you can buy a Prius C supermini for $27,990 or (this might surprise) a proper Prius for $38,990, thanks to Toyota NZ’s new no-haggle Driveaway Price policy.
The Hyundai Ioniq hybrid hatchback, with the same platform and powertrain as the Niro, starts at $46,990.