Like it or not, we are moving into a new era of transport options, and this includes an ever-expanding selection of Electric Vehicle(EV) options, from the everyday to the exotic.
While Toyota is one of the leaders, having decades of practice across their various divisions, there are plenty of challengers looking to take their crown.
This includes Korean brand KIA, who have moved from a position of budget-priced 'also ran' to knocking on the doors of the established players, looking for a seat at the top of the table.
Leading this charge, so to say, is the Niro, available in a range of powertrain options, from traditional Internal Combustion Engines (ICE), Hybrid EV (HEV) combining ICE and EV, and full blown EVs.
Eyes on design
Visually, there is not a lot to separate the NIRO EV from other compact SUV-style cars, there is still a bonnet, a cabin and luggage area, and a regulation-style tailgate, with four-door body.
This is one of the secrets to the popularity of the Niro, it looks just like another car, there is nothing 'science experiment' about it, nothing for the naysayers to seize on and deride the EV buyer as being 'different'.
Now in its second generation, the Niro uses the corporate 'Tiger Face' front end, with a two-part upper and lower grille, split by a horizontal body section, supported by a lower chin piece with integrated skid plate.
The EV is easily distinguished by the central high-mount charging port cover, which actually adds to the 'Tiger Face' visage, looking like a snout between the high-mount headlights.
The headlights also contain the mandatory Daytime Running Lights (DRLs - so many acronyms these days!), which KIA describe as 'heartbeats' for the way they spike, moving right to left, and they do create a point of difference in an era of design homogeneity.
Our test car was the GT-Line, giving it the upgraded LED headlights which throw an amazing amount of light down the road, from such small units.
Growing up in the era of 'bigger is better', when the competition was to see who could fit the biggest possible driving lights across the front of the car, being part of the transition to pocket-sized LED projectors of today has been quite an experience.
KIA has gone for a blend of old and new with the headlight design and placement, with the LEDs placed inside a soft-edged and curved light pod mounted right on the edge of the grille, semi-recessed into the leading edge of the front guards.
For mine, I think it looks the part, giving the Tiger Face a set of eyes, as though the Niro is constantly scanning its surroundings as it prowls through the urban jungle.
The other eye-catching design element is the 'Aero C-Pillar' - essentially a broad, angularly-curving, body panel running down the rear quarter from the roof to the top of the rear guards.
On our car, it included the Steel Grey paint and cladding, creating a two-tone look reminiscent of the vinyl roofs popular in the late 60s and 70s.
While it is not for everyone, I guess that is why it is optional!, it does create a visual difference in the car, giving it an added layer of recognisability in the modern carpark, where there is a lot of 'same same' in overall design.
Rolling with the flow
The EV GT Line runs on 17" alloys, wearing 215/55/17 tyres, compared to the lower profile 18" tyres on the Hybrid GT Line, this allows it to keep the same rolling diameter, while building in a little more sidewall for the heavier EV variant.
There is a trade-off in a little more body roll for the EV, but you have to be trying pretty hard to pick it, or be Daniel Ricciardo!, the bigger giveaway is the slight tendency to understeer courtesy of hauling an extra couple of hundred kilograms, but for most Niro buyers, this is a moot point, they are highly unlikely to be charging over Mt Nebo in maximum attack mode, which is where you will feel it most in every day driving.
As the range-topper, the GT Line doesn't want for much when it comes to creature comforts, if it is available for under $80k, it is pretty much there.
Without copy/pasting the whole spec list, you can expect to find heated/cooled front seats, a 10.25"horizontal, central, display with 'tap and go' for all the usual functions, including dual-zone air-conditioning front, with back-seaters sharing the driver's settings, the lucky ducks!
The A/C controls are a bit of fun, the lower section has an electronic flip switch, changing from climate control to audio/navigation, with the volume and tuning knobs becoming rotary temperature dials when it is in 'climate' mode.
Steering is via a thickly padded two-spoke steering wheel, loaded up with more thumb buttons and flick switches than Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter, but it has a nice visual touch of an ovoid-shaped highlight across the bottom two-thirds, which looks like a big smiley face, just adding to the cheerful feel of the EV.
My 14-year-old son loves the 64 colour ambient interior LED lighting, while there are some presets to match the driving modes, he takes great delight in programming custom displays, and created a very relaxing purple/violet mix, good for night driving I found, softening the cabin glow.
The audio system is an 8-speaker Harmon/Kardon unit, they have become the go-to audio designer for KIA, and create an excellent soundscape within the car, and I suspect they may have a say in some of the surface finishes and materials for both sound absorbency and reflection for maximum enjoyment.
Seats are trimmed in an artificial leather, no, not vinyl!, that offers the look and feel of the real thing, but without necessitating a trip to Bovine University for Daisy and friends, and ultimately it can be recycled at the end of the car's life.
The front passenger gets the benefit of the Premium Relaxation seat, allowing them to stretch out in comfort when the car is parked or during charging, think of an SUV with a day bed.
While some complain cars like this have become overly complex, and there is some truth to the accusation, the reality is we spend more time in our vehicles than ever, thanks to ever-increasing urban congestion.
As a result, we are expecting more from our transportation, it is no longer a simple device for getting from A to B, cars are becoming an extension of our personalities, and manufacturers are just meeting the demand for more convenience.
Tech, tech me home...
This is probably as good a place as any to segue into driver assist technology, another area of contention, with 'purists' decrying the addition of extra technologies they say are diminishing the role of the driver.
I disagree.
When was the last time your pilot was 'hands-on' from Brisbane to Dallas on a 30-something hour direct flight? Give you a hint - the answer is in decades.
The same goes for cruise liners, freighters, space ships and yes, racing cars!
So, if a manufacturer gives me the option to use adaptive cruise control to make sure I am staying on the legal side of the speed limit, while actively maintaining the gap to the car ahead, day or night, rain, shine, fog or worse, with a gentle buzz through the steering to let me know I have gone a bit close to the lines, then I am going to use it.
The same with a 'smart' dash that can track the vehicle's health, from oil temperature and pressure to yaw rates, throttle position and steering angles, there is no way we can access, let alone monitor and adjust, the myriad of detail the modern ECU can as we drive along.
If something goes out of parameter, then I get a warning, and I can, as the driver make the decision to either continue, slow down or stop, and call for assistance as required.
For me, this allows me to focus on my main job, which is to steer the car, look for unexpected events, like the kangaroo shadowing us on the side of the road, the child playing in the driveway that suddenly heads for the road to chase a toy, or even the driver two lanes away who swerves across because they are getting impatient with the car ahead of them, and cannons into the side of my car - yep, Pacific Highway on-ramp, nailed me in the passenger doors, despite me changing lanes and taking avoiding action.
The GT Line has a Heads-Up Display (HUD), another device I think should be mandatory in all cars. Nissan pioneered this technology a couple of decades ago, it wasn't quite right, but good on them for introducing it, and now it is making a comeback, with a number of manufacturers all supporting it.
In the Niro, it takes the form of a display 'floating' in the driver's eyeline, appearing just at the end of the bonnet.
It is translucent, so you don't lose any vision, but you get a driver-adjustable and selectable display showing 'core' driving information, like road speed, signed speed limit, thanks to onboard cameras, you can add navigation instructions and even audio information like what song is playing and what device you are using.
While it does take a day or so to adjust to, once you have used it, moving into a vehicle without a HUD feels like stepping back in time.
You are fully aware of all the important things you need to know about your trip, without losing any situational awareness by having to look down, even for a moment, to check detail - anything you don't see, you don't need while driving, and can wait until you are stopped, or if it is a long highway trip, until you have a nice straight piece of road you can confirm is clear before glancing away.
For those who argue otherwise, look at in-car footage from Le Mans, Supercars, Bathurst 12 Hours and other major race series, these all take full advantage of driver aids, and there is no way they are not pushing the limit - at 330km/h plus down the Mulsanne Straight, you are not having a quick glance away as you prepare to overtake a 'slow' Porsche, only going about 300km/h...
Okay, sermon over...
Other niceties (some call gimmicks) include the Safe Exit Assistance, which uses the body-mounted sensors to check for approaching traffic, and trigger an alarm before the nearest doors are opened, once the car is put in PARK and the car is switched off - especially good if you have younger children in the back seat, but generally handy.
There is also Rear Cross Traffic Collision Warning, again, using a mix of reverse camera and parking sensors, if a vehicle approaches from either side while the car is in Neutral or Reverse, there is an audible alert and the main screen shows the rear view and which side the traffic is on.
My other favourite, once we mastered the key fob sequence, is the remote park and retrieval function.
With parking spaces getting tighter, I have battled with entering and exiting in some restricted areas, not wanting to bang doors into poles or other vehicles.
This allows the driver to park the car in a space, then move out of the space enough for the everyone to get in or out, the car then be rolled forwards or backwards into the space, with no panel damage.
When it is time to leave, the driver uses the remote start function to turn the motor on, roll the car enough for the doors to be opened safely, and then drive off like normal, again with no risk of damage to the car.
The car can only move while the driver is actively holding the button in, and the car is limited to ultra-low speed, to prevent risk of accidental overshoots.
Running all of these technologies, the Niro is a smart piece of gear, no two ways about it, and it is about simplifying the driving experience, which it does more than adequately.
Let's Drive!
Like most modern cars, once you are in, there is a push-button starter to get things running, the only difference is the Niro sits silently, waiting for the driver to select a gear and push the accelerator.
There is a rotary dial on the centre console for Drive, Reverse and Park, once that is engaged, the fun begins...
The EV has a 'direct drive' unit, which basically means the harder you push, the faster you go, forwards or backwards, so yes, if you are brave enough, the Niro is capable of more than 160km/h in Reverse...no, I wasn't that brave!
Another key difference is the immediate availability of power, electric motors produce full power right from the get-go, where an ICE needs to build power through the RPM range, and then generally transmit that via a set of gears to the final drive.
The short version is this immediate availability of power means even the most innocuous of EVs will leap away from a standing start, and often there is some torque steer, especially in front-wheel-drive versions, making for a spectacular launch!
With 150 kilowatts and 250 Newton-metres, from 0 rpm, the Niro is no slouch, and getting underway uphill on a wet road produces more than a few laughs, as it literally spins up, before getting grip and launching like an F1 car.
KIA has done plenty of work in recent years, upgrading and improving ride and handling with significant work done here in Australia, and the Niro is reaping the benefits of these programs.
This does not mean they have tried to build a road-registered race car, it is about making the car cope with a wide variety of surfaces and speeds, making for the smoothest rid with reasonable steering responses, to suit Australian drivers.
The end result is the Niro feels composed and comfortable, whether it is cruising at 110km/h on highways or enjoying a country drive over a mix of paved and gravel roads, with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure.
It is not a car I would choose to run at Mt Cotton or Lakeside, although a run around the hillclimb would be interesting, given its exceptional acceleration and braking capabilities, there are more track-oriented cars in the KIA stable if you want to just go flat out on a closed circuit.
While the Niro does have above-average ride and handling, it is not perfect, like all SUV-style vehicles there is the issue of raised ride height causing body roll on really twisty roads, and the added mass of the battery cells makes itself felt when it comes to rapid changes of direction, you can't beat the laws of physics.
That said, the majority of owners will never put themselves into that situation, and ultimately, it wasn't designed or engineered for it, and KIA makes no claims about the Niro being a corner-carver.
If you have never driven an EV, the biggest surprise is the lack of braking required, thanks to the regenerative braking for energy capture.
Not only does the Niro have a decent set of disc brakes front and rear (305mm vented fronts/284mm solid rears), there is also the added bonus of the Smart Regenerative Braking to add braking capacity by converting momentum into electricity.
Steering wheel-mounted paddles allow the driver to choose between four levels of regeneration, from 'barely there' to full energy capture every time you take your foot off the accelerator.
Best of all, these systems work in conjunction with the cruise control, so that every time the car begins to 'coast', either on a flat road or any kind of downslope, the Niro is actually generating additional power to begin topping off the batteries.
This system absolutely shines in stop-start traffic, every time you lift off or brake, you are making power, and it is possible to finish a journey with more power in reserve than when you started.
But even long drives present plenty of regenerative opportunities, consecutive daily trips out to Forest Hill from Logan, about 90km each way on the Logan Motorway and Warrego Highway, with some local short trips once we arrived, so about 210km each day, saw power consumption of approximately 45%, which is in line with KIA's claim of 460km on a full charge.
The regen braking was well demonstrated on this, with the Marburg and Minden Ranges (yeah, 200m vertical climb and we call it a Range!) taking a bite out of the power reserves on the way up, but as soon as we crested and began the roll down the other side, still at 100km/h, pretty much every watt/hour we consumed was pumped back into the batteries.
Best of all, there were no compromises on the inside, the seats were comfortable, we had split zone airconditioning running the whole time, along with the Harman/Kardon unit pumping the tunes via Apple CarPlay, with a bootful of rims and tyres for my sons' race car.
There were enough cupholders to keep us all hydrated, with coffee in the centre console and water bottles in the doors, while the rear seat has a drop down armrest if there is no fifth passenger.
That said, I do have one complaint about the driving position, the Niro has a cutout below the driver's door armrest, which is right where I like to brace my knee, instead there was just a space and I had to find a new way to hold my leg.
Given the Warrego, even this close to Brisbane, is a bit questionable in terms of bumps and corrugations, the work KIA has done on the ride was exemplified here, there is enough suppleness in the suspension to soak up most of the bashing and crashing, without passengers being thrown out of their seats, yet the car remains taut and doesn't feel like you are driving a marshmallow.
The instant power of the EV was once more illustrated here, pulling out to overtake a slow moving horse float was the work of an instant, an extra push on the accelerator (I have to stop myself calling it a 'gas pedal'!) and the Niro leaps ahead, adding an extra 10-20km/h, and then it just rolls back to the previous cruising speed, with the regenerative braking turning otherwise 'waste' momentum - the extra speed - into electricity and giving the batteries some extra charge.
While our test car didn't have a towbar fitted, the Niro EV does have a rate towing capacity of 300kg unbraked or 750kg braked, while this is not huge compared to some cars, it is usable.
Feel the power!
After a week of living with the Niro, I had a pretty good feel for the 'ups and downs' of EV ownership, one of them being recharging.
Because I don't own an EV, I don't have a dedicated DC charger unit, and had to use the 2.3kw/h AC charger instead, which did mean some lengthy charge times, especially after trips up and down the Warrego.
That said, if I owned the car, I would have a DC charger, so the point becomes moot in that respect, but it is good to have the AC charger in the car, it means anywhere we stopped, we could put the car on charge if we wanted.
The bigger issue is the lack of public infrastructure for DC charging, it is all well and good for governments to offer incentives to boost EV sales, but if there is nowhere to recharge, then potential owners are going to think twice before signing on the dotted line.
While more and more venues are installing charging points, either free - like many supermarkets - or 'pay as you go', there is also a need for sufficient electrical infrastructure to cope with the increasing demand.
Basically, the more charging points you install, the more power needs to be available to meet the demand, and that is the role of State Government, to ensure the electricity is available.
The Niro does have a trick up its sleeve, allowing it to be a storage unit to power external devices, or even download electricity to another storage device.
This can either be done via a 240V, three-pin, plug in the cabin, or at higher rates through a DC plug in the main charging point at the front of the car.
There is a limit of 3.6kW, to ensure plenty remains to run the car, but it does give owners the chance to use the Niro in a variety of ways, making it an excellent emergency back-up, especially in a natural disaster, to keep vital domestic infrastructure like fridges operating, with the ability to recharge the batteries from solar or other sources.
Decisions, decisions...
So, would I have one? Yes, on balance, I think I would, while it wouldn't be my only car, if I was travelling from Logan to Brisbane, Ippy or the Goldie on a daily basis, this makes a lot of sense, especially if you have a parking deal that includes free or reduced price charging.
It is also flexible enough to take on day or weekend trips around the Southeast corner, a cruise out to Warwick, Stanthorpe or up to Noosa and the hinterlands would be well within its abilities.
Yes, I would still have another car, the racing cars won't tow themselves!, but I wouldn't be driving it on a daily basis, and even if I bought an ICE or hybrid, rather than an EV, I would still need the tow vehicle.
Are EVs for everyone - no, definitely not, but they are for more people than you realise, one argument was being impractical out of the urban sprawl - but having spent many years working in regional areas, there are very few properties without large scale solar power arrays, more than capable of meeting the charging requirements of the Niro, without impacting other uses.
My advice? Go and try one. It might not be the car for you, but like the NT, you will never never know if you never never try.
All the goss...
Want to know more? Check out the specifications here:
Comments