Page 48 - Motor Trend (April 2020)
P. 48
COMPARISON
The Kia Niro’s EPA-rated range of
239 miles seems conservative. Soft-
footed drivers likely eke out more.
2nd Place: Kia Niro Eco it’s very confusing! To its credit, there’s
A quality low-cost EV contender a paddle/mode combination that allows
At first encounter, the Niro’s interior pure coasting with no regen. But overall,
seems to be doing a heck of an imperson- it’s way too complicated: two paddles,
ation of an old Nissan Versa taxicab. It’s multiple drive modes, tiny indicator on
so plasticky-predictable that you wonder dash showing regen level.”
if it’s cleverly deliberate, a safe haven for I wrote some testy comments on its
first-time EV drivers still fretting that this at-the-limit performance while at the test
is one of those “science experiment” cars. track, too: “Its steering is a bit abstract,
You do have to poke around to and it brakes as if by ropes.” After
understand how it could possibly cost adaptive cruise control, and strong-willed running some laps through our stability-
$47,405. Using its Monroney as a Rosetta lane centering. Our car (in California) challenging lane change test, I added, “It’s
Stone, the mystery is revealed: It came somehow had the $1,080 Cold Weather the only car today that feels like it’s about
loaded. This EX Premium’s standard package (battery heater and heat pump) to spin. Spooky with stability control off.”
features include a power sunroof, and another $1,000 slipped in to honor Nevertheless, this Niro EV handles
ventilated front seats with power lumbar its being a Launch Edition (including a normal roads like a happy 6-month-old
support, a Harman Kardon sound system, heated steering wheel—strangely not part puppy that keeps jumping at you with
navigation, wireless phone charging, of the Cold Weather package). There’s affection, even if it occasionally slobbers a
also a total of $280 for carpeted floormats little by mistake. If anything, its 239-mile
and a cargo mat and net. range is excessively conservative (I
The Niro EV doesn’t delete all your repeatedly saw over 250), and its EV silk-
doubts once the Monroney is folded iness and right-pedal responsiveness are
away, either. “There’s no real-time power a constant contrast with its appearance of
reading or display,” said co-evaluator Alec an ordinary gasoline car.
Brooks, an expert on charging and infra- Often, I found myself glancing at a Tesla
structure (and co-creator of the prototype next to me on the freeway, wanting to yell,
for GM’s EV1). “Eco mode provides very “Hey, this thing’s better than you think
light regen on accelerator-pedal lift, and it is!” Despite the Leaf’s and Bolt’s huge
its steering wheel paddles have different head starts, the Kia Niro EV is currently
functionalities in different drive modes— the best of the rest.
48 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020
