Featured Review of the 2018 Kia Niro PHEV

The heater issue is going to be the death-knell of this car unless Kia does something immediately. Cooled seats but no electric heat? WOW what were they thinking?

 

gotta have a heat pump. once again, toyota has raised the bar and set the standard.

 

How was regen?

 

The EV1 had a heat pump.

 

that should be of great assistance to kia.

 

Really sad design without a heat pump for heating or cooling. And they've had a couple years to design/buy that too.

 

It is a question of cost. My understanding is that the system is more likely to kick to hybrid mode than the Prime does. In which case, on more thing that turns on the engine isn't a big deal, and it reduces the MSRP by a few hundred dollars.

 

understandable, but regrettable. install it, bump the price, fix the things that kick it into hybrid mode, and you've got a winner.

 

Baby steps.

 

been hearing that from honda for a long, long time.

 

Sorry, still coming back to: cooled seats but no electric heat? WTH were ya'll thinking?

 

The things kicking it into hybrid mode more often than say the Prime is the fact that it is based on a parallel hybrid. These might be cheaper than a powerspilt, but that is because it can work as a hybrid with a smaller traction motor. The PHEV gets a bigger motor, but it isn't big enough for full performance in EV mode alone. That said, I've seen comments that the Ioniq can go over 50mph just on EV.

The need for a bigger motor in the PHEV of the parallel hybrid means a bigger price jump over the hybrid model. For a Prius to become a Prime, you need a bigger battery, a charger, and a dogtooth clutch. The clutch is small change compared to putting a bigger motor that will also likely require upgrading things like the alternator. Those differences mean one has more room for upgrades like a heat pump and meet a certain price point.

Wait, the seats also don't have electric heat, but are cooled?

 

Or a "Prius", har, har
Hey, if it looks like margarine, tastes like margarine, and smells like margarine, it must be margarine! Me I like Prime Butter better!!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

i would prefer cooled seats to heated.

 

IIRC from Tony's report, yes they are heated too.

So, you'll have some hardcore types trying to make it through winters on those alone in the hopes of not burning gas. Because of our mild winters, I can get by on seat heaters alone as my usual trips are short enough that I don't lose enough built up warmth from being indoors.

No electric heater also means no pre-heating the cabin on wall power. Poor engineering decision.

 

if most of their plugins sell in warm winter places like California (often the case) & Florida, it wouldn't kill them, just sales in the frosty places .... giving them time to install seat heaters. Heck - many of us DIY'ers have already done that to the leaf * Prius during 1st-year productions because they didn't have them either - & they both survived

.

 

The hardcore aren't the ones that will make it a success or not, and they aren't likely to choose it because it is a blended PHEV. The traction motor is only 60hp. The M/G2 in the PiP is 80hp, but limited by the battery. Give the PiP the Niro PHEV's battery, and it will be less likely to turn on the ICE. With a smaller battery, the Ioniq/Niro PHEV would not have been able to do the EPA test on EV alone.

Preheating increases the charge time, and on level 1, the Niro already takes 9 hours. After preheating the cabin on level 1, the Volt needs 30 minutes of charging to replenish the energy used from the battery. Some topping off is even needed on level 2.

So resistant heaters reduce EV range, increase charging time, or both, and a heat pump is a pricey addition. Then considering the weather conditions around cold, defogger use is more likely, and no PHEV can do that without turning on the ICE.

 

they've come a long way since my 1st, in the early 1970's ...


boy ... what a PoS that thing was ... cost me a fortune to keep it running.

.