Fresh faced
You wouldn’t know it at first glance but this striking thing is Kia’s second generation Niro in its all electric form Quite the glow up for what was previously a worthy but impossibly dull crossover There are clear similarities to ’s HabaNiro concept that debuted at the New York Auto Show and we’re big fans of that Audi R style side blade
The interior has been given an overhaul too with Kia’s new age two spoke steering wheel happily staring you straight in the face as you drop onto the basic but comfortable seats In both ‘’ and ‘’ grade versions you get a ‘chopped carbon fascia’ that looks like it came from the bins at Mansory’s factory but at least it offers a little more interest than the plain ‘’ trim of our entry level test car The two higher specs get a inch central screen that sits nicely in the curved dash section while ‘’ limits you to a diddy looking inch touchscreen in the same place All get a inch dial display though and it’s just as well equipped as the old e Niro
The updates both inside and out are fairly radical but Kia hasn’t actually played with the fundamentals too much and it hasn’t touched the drivetrain at all There are four drive modes Eco Normal Sport Snow but best to leave it in Eco and let it do its thing This is still a bhp crossover that weighs over
tonnes and Kia’s time and effort has rightly been spent on things other than driver engagement The steering is light without too much feel and the brake pedal is a little snatchy It does corner flat but you won’t be hunting out interesting B roads
Kia seems to have improved the ride quality and refinement though with barely any road noise transmitted into the cabin and a less bouncy ride than before It’s mightily efficient too we managed miles per kWh and if you never leave the city you could up that to or above The Niro’s range indicator is pleasingly accurate too and changes depending on whether you have the aircon on or what drive mode you’re in Very handy
This is still a proper family EV but Kia has just injected it with a little more style Ignore the hybrid and PHEV Niros the EV is the one to have It even has the biggest boot of the lot proving it hasn’t gone all style over substance