New 2019 Niro Plug In

I like your choice in colors. We have the Gray Niro. Every time I see the White I second guess our choice in colors. Do you find the ride is exceptional with these vehicles? Until riding in one I would have never guessed how comfortable, quiet and engaging the ride would be.

 

I was able to do some numbers on gas consumption for April we spent $270 on gas. We bought our Niro on May 6 and in May we spent $170 on gas. In mid May I installed a Level 2 charger since May 26 we have spent $0 on gas and still have a completely full tank. I believe the Level 2 charger was the ticket to have this car purchase make economic sense. No one drives our older van anymore (15 years old ). All my yard tools are electric including our mower so we are completely off gas.

I appreciate the safety package upgrade we bought more than I thought I would. I actually bought it for the younger drivers in our family but find they help me drive as well. We upgraded to Lane Keep Assist, Autonomous braking, Smart cruise control, Blind Side Monitoring including backup monitoring for ongoing traffic (indispensable for backing out of a Walmart parking space with distracted drivers going 30 mph down the aisle).

On the expressway with Lane Keep Assist and Smart Cruise Control with autonomous braking the car will almost drive itself, if you take your hands off the wheel it will sound an alarm after 30 seconds.

The Kia Niro is a steering by wire vehicle which gives it a little different feel but actually is pleasant once you get used to it. I am also appreciating the option of having drivers side only temperature control when you are the only one in the car. You just push the drivers only button on the A/C Heating unit and only the drivers position receives a/c or heating.

We are still averaging over 30 miles on EV on the vehicle even with a/c so this is beginning to be the standard we expect with this vehicle.

 

Unfortunately - no spare. We purchased a spare tire kit from ebay which includes mounted tire , jack and lug wrench. Also purchased a heavy duty tire plug repair kit. We currently carry the jack, lug wrench and hole plug kit. The mounted tire stays in the garage. Since most our driving is local we will have someone run the spare out to us if needed. Will carry the spare on long trips out of area
Kia supplies a tire mobility kit with their new vehicles- air compressor, and slime type liquid which the compressor injects into the flat tire.They (Kia) also supplies a road side assistance package with each vehicle they sell I will not be using the mobility kit unless it is an absolute last resort.

In the PHEV Niro like we have the battery takes up the spare tire space so have to rig up a tether system to safely carry spare tire

 

We also found the ready availability of the Kia Niro was a big selling point. Also
the cooperativeness of the Kia Dealer to satisfy our needs as a customer was icing on the cake.
The Kia Dealers seemed most motivated to satisfy their customers demand at the time we bought our new vehicle.

I have learned a new trick for our car buying which is using the internet car buying services like Edmonds New Car Buying Service (we used this one), Costco new car buying service etc.

We were very satisfied with the service we received and the competing dealer bids for our business when using the internet.

I will never again sit in a Dealership Sales Office and feel pushed to buy another vehicle that they happen to have in inventory because they won't or can't order the vehicle I want.

I think in time the internet is going to completely revolutionize the car buying experience for the customer. An individual Dealership doesn't hold the upper hand in this venue. They must compete with other Dealerships for your business which completely turn the table around. The buyer is in control!

 

Currently we are getting 50 mpg and 34 ev miles on full charge. Last bought gas May 20 and have only used about 1 gallon of gas in the last 40 days.

If you have the attention span to watch a 30 minute video this is an engaging discussion on the Niro by a Kia American executive that covers the car from initial idea/concept, design to manufacturing and selling the vehicle. I found it fascinating. The discussion takes place in the first 30 minutes of the video.
First 3 minutes of video is an off air discussion of the KIA Executives prior automotive experience.

 

Here is a list of "8 Cool Niro Facts" that might interest people. It was made by Motor Trend Magazine in 2017.

One thing I've noticed is there is not nearly as many KIA Dealerships as Toyota. This is obviously due to Toyota being much larger company. In our area we have one KIA Dealership 15 miles from us. The rest are in a 75 mile radius. Toyota has 4 Dealerships within 25 miles of us. Much easier to find a Dealer that is a good fit for you and your service needs with Toyota.


8 Cool Kia Niro Facts


the guys at MotorTrend saw the model in person last week, Kia stopped by their office with the all-new 2017 Niro hybrid crossover.

They were able to get a close look at the Toyota Prius competitor that’s set to go on sale early next year after the release of the Optima hybrid and plug-in hybrid. Their cool facts list didn’t mention much regarding the crossover’s driving dynamics which leads us to believe that they weren’t given a chance to drive it and this was purely a show and tell kind of meeting. During they discussion, they learned of eight new details about the 2017 Niro.

Kia Intentionally Designed The Niro To Be Crossover/SUV-Like

Most hybrid vehicles already in the market were designed to optimize aerodynamics so they are generally wedge shaped and the designers at Kia didn’t want to follow this trend. They wanted something to set their first dedicated hybrid vehicle apart from the rest and thus the crossover/suv- like body. Kis calls this a "hybrid utility vehicle", something that is both practical and has enough interior space for the whole family.

CVT Was Never Going To Make An Appearance

Just like the body, most hybrids comes with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) but Kia just didn’t want a belt-type transmission in the Niro. That’s why they equipped it with a six-speed dual-clutch unit instead so it doesn’t drive the same as its competitors.

Niro Is Only 10% Related To The Hyundai Elantra and Kia Forte

We know that the 2017 Kia Niro shares the same platform as the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Forte but, what we didn’t know was that it only shares 10% of the chassis parts with the other two models because the Niro was designed to be a hybrid only.

The Powertrain is Hybrid Only

Kia engineered the 1.6-liter GDI four-cylinder engine specifically for Hyundai and Kia hybrid applications so you won’t be seeing this Atkinson Cycle engine in anything but a hybrid.

Plug-In Hybrid Is Coming

For those of you waiting for the plug-in hybrid Niro, your wait won’t be too long because it’s set to be revealed a few months after the standard Niro hits showroom floors early next year. If it’s similar to the Hyundai Ioniq, we could be seeing a pure electric range of 25 miles (40 km) or more.

No All-Wheel Drive

At least we won’t be seeing it anytime soon. The Niro will be front-wheel-drive only and the same would apply to the plug-in version too. In order to make it AWD, the platform would need to be changed to fit the system. Maybe one day we’ll see an AWD Niro with an electric motor fitted into the rear.

Navigation System Helps You Save Fuel

Depending on the type of elevation you’re driving on; uphill, downhill, or on level ground, the Niro will use the navigation system and cruise control to anticipate topographical changes and adjust the energy flow as needed to optimize efficiency. Kia is the first company to adjust this system for both ascending and descending settings.

Fuel Efficient And Affordable

The Niro was engineered to be fuel efficient at 50 mpg (4.7 L/100km) and even with a body that’s not wedge-like, it still only has a drag coefficient of 0.29. We can expect the starting MSRP to be around $25,000 USD which puts it on par with the Toyota Prius. That’s a long of bang for your buck.

 

Here is a comprehensive review of the 2019 Niro by an automotive reviewer from Canada. I think he does a wonderful job of a down to earth easily understandable review for regular individuals. The Hybid Niro, Plug In Hybrid Niro and EV Niro are all on the same platform. This car was designed exclusively for these three platforms only.

 

Good day for economical driving a PHEV in our neck of the woods. Today I got 38 miles on one charge with 2 miles on battery range still showing when we got home. This is my best mileage on one charge ever. I feel comfortable saying I got 40 mile on one charge.
The outdoor conditions were 78 degrees so no need for a/c and uncrowded roads today where a fellow could coast to stops and do gradual starts.

I am interested in winter EV range, since the Niro uses the ICE engine to heat with it will be interesting to see the affect of colder weather on EV range since the heater will not draw the battery down.

 

I've seen post discussing why people might like Android or Apple car play with their car. Here is a short video of how Android Auto, Apple car play and UVO (KIA intelligence) have been integrated into a car together to do some interesting task for the owner. There are many more things you can also do not included in the video such as using your smartphone as the car interface rather than UVO -its the customers choice how to interact with the car

Video:

 

Here are a few negative aspects of buying a relatively new model car from a maker which is experiencing good growth but still not a major player.

1. on a limited model like the Niro Plug in Hybrid new parts and their distribution can be an issue. Some individuals have had to wait a week or more to get a part shipped to the dealer to make a repair. The particular part was not in stock in North America and had to be procured and shipped from overseas.

2. Some Kia Dealerships may not have a mechanic trained on Hybrid technology or with experience on Hybrids

3. Kia Dealership network is not nearly as mature as the Toyota Dealership Network- Kia has one Dealership 15 miles from us and the next closest is 65 miles away .

Toyota has 3 well established professionally run dealerships within 25 minutes of us, each Dealership staffed with certified experienced mechanics for Hybrid repairs. Toyota has a wonderful parts network established for its vehicles where it seems you can get any part necessary within days.

There are definite advantages from buying a car from a well established respected company like Toyota as compared to a new up coming kid on the block company like Kia.

So far we haven't had any problems with our Plug in Niro but I do realize I may have some challenges if we do experience
problems