Featured First Drive: 2016 Kia Niro

74 mpg? Really? It must be those strange British gallons.

 

from the text:
our car posted an indicated 64.2mpg on our hour-long real-world route.

I often travel with my family (fully loaded) with higher than indicated MPG of 64,2 in my 3 Gen Prius (17inch rims) on open road. We must wait to see how this powertrain performs, with more data.

 

kind of late nineties styling, so it would be hard to imagine a low drag coefficient where it would rival a Prius. I feel like I'm having a first release C-Max deja vu. Actually Kia and Hyundai are pretty much the same company and Hyundai had to take a huge fine for puffing up mileage beyond reality. Maybe they haven't learned yet.
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Hyundai's transgression on the window sticker numbers didn't seem to be intentional; part of the huge fine was to be a deterrent to the rest. Remember the new EPA rules that were going to apply to the gen4? Part of the drive to introduce them was to clarify and reduce confusion in the ones Hyundai messed up.

I expect the Ioniq will have the better aerodynamics of the pair.

 

Kia claims .29 CD which is very good for a CUV. I like the roof racks on the Niro and it's only ~100lbs heavier than the Ioniq.

 

what?

 

I didn't know the

There is no CVT in the Prius. It's a single-gear (or two "kind of", if you have a Gen-4) direct drive. CVT means "constantly variable." The Prius is always in high gear - no variables. It uses three power sources, MG1, MG2 and ICE to drive the car. In one gear -- high gear. And without a clutch.

It's a Festivas Miracle!

 

From the Mother of Knowledge (Wikipedia):

"CVTs should be distinguished from power-sharing transmissions (PSTs), as used in newer hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, Highlander and Camry, the Nissan Altima, and newer-model Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs. CVT technology uses only one input from a prime mover and delivers variable output speeds and torque, whereas PST technology uses two prime mover inputs and varies the ratio of their contributions to output speed and power. These transmissions are fundamentally different."

So, no. Maybe Toyota meant something else. Like "Exceedingly Cool Valuable Transmitter."

 

Transmission (mechanics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Probably the wiki article came after Prius, so Toyota named it according to the "closest" operating behaviour.

 

It's not a CVT in the conventional sense, where some mechanism (variable size pulleys, cones, toroidal friction drives, and such) mechanically changes the input versus output ratio without directing power over a different path.

However, it behaves identically to a (very responsive) CVT in practice, and Toyota markets it as such: Prius Glossary

As far as the Outlander PHEV, it's very similar to the Gen 1 Volt or the current Accord Hybrid in concept - ICE is connected to a MG at all times, generating power for a second MG to use to drive the vehicle, and the ICE/MG1 is clutched to the wheels only if it would be at the right RPM for current vehicle speed and power demand. Otherwise, it acts as a serial hybrid.

 

To be honest, I don't pay attention to things like engine noise as a passenger. The car's operation is more apparent when I'm the driver.

As for the journalists, it is likely more a cultural or individual taste. CVTs are more accepted in Japan, than the West. Then those interested enough in cars to write about them were likely interested enough to learn to drive a manual beyond how even a non-enthusiast would. So even when an automatic can outdo a manual, they'll have some resentment of the loss of control in the transmission behavior.

The system varies the input of M/G1 and the ICE to simulate different gear ratios. From your later links, "EVTs are capable of continuously modulating output/input speed ratios like mechanical CVTs."

The Volt has a planetary gear set similar to the Prius; along with the clutches, where the M/Gs and ICE connect to the central gear set differs. In hybrid mode, it can operate vary closely to the way the HSD does. The Malibu is even closer, and gets better gasoline fuel economy than the Volt.

The Accord hybrid is basically an electric drive train with a fixed set chain of gears that the ICE can clutch into at highway speeds. It is the closest a hybrid has gotten to being pure series. The i3 REx is such, but is also a PHEV.

I was thinking the Outlader PHEV was a through the road hybrid, like the Volvo S60 one, but honestly, I haven't looked into it.

 

Yes, the Gen 2 Volt and the current Malibu hybrid are a 2-mode power split gearbox, with input split (what the Prius is, although this mode is configured differently in the GM products IIRC), compound split, and an intermediate fixed gear mode (higher drivetrain efficiency, but only usable at certain combinations of load and speed obviously). However, the Gen 1 Volt, while it did use planetary reduction gearing, was not a power split gearbox - the only mode in which the engine was mechanically connected to the wheels at all was the fixed gear mode, otherwise 100% of ICE power went through GM's equivalent of MG1, and what was needed was sent through an electrical path to the equivalent of MG2. The actual mechanical layout is different due to GM's preference for planetary reduction gearing, but it's the same idea as the Accord and the Outlander.

Outlander PHEV is very, very similar to the Accord Hybrid in layout, but with the addition of a MGR driving the rear wheels.

Also, the Volvo S60 concept system appears to actually have a MG up front, between the engine and conventional transmission, but only uses it as a starter and a generator, rather than using it for vehicle propulsion, whereas other Volvo hybrids (the XC90, S90, and V90 T8) use both MGs as far as I'm aware.

 

For a CUV, very impressive... Puts the RAV4 Hybrid to shame, though it's probably in a bigger class of SUV. Interested to see Toyota's response to the twin Koreans, I hope they nix the Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) and make a Prius based CUV already, would love to see one; more space and genuine tow ratings would be welcomed for road trips and camping.

 

They already have a Gen 3 Prius-based CUV, with the upgraded powertrain needed for propelling a taller vehicle with a tow rating. (1750 lbs, apparently, so not a huge one, but it is a tow rating.)

It's called the RAV4 Hybrid. (RAV4 is on the New MC platform, just like the Corolla and Gen 3 Prius.)

 

Ah... RAV4 is huge compared to the Prius, didn't think they shared the same platform. I'm thinking more in the lines of the Honda HR-V, squarely in the CUV category, Toyota doesn't have a smaller SUV for that segment.