The first generation of the Kia e-Niro marked the arrival on the market of an electric crossover that satisfied those who were looking for an SUV and a compact at the same time. In 2022 the second arrived, with a radically different design, more interior space, keeping those contained dimensions that make it practical in the city and achieving very low consumption on daily trips.
Technologically it was also updated with screens and technologies that we had seen in other SUVs of the brand, in the case of the Kia Sportage or the Kia Sorento. After testing it thoroughly, he continues to bet on making things easy for the driver, with good visibility, comfortable and he feels very poised at normal speeds. “Nice, isn’t it?”, which Robert De Niro said in the first generation announcement:
Eye, it seems perfect… but there are things that choke him. Do not ask for dynamism in motion or emotions. He won’t give them to you. Do not choose it either if you want to make long trips often. Its charging power (80 kW) means that stops must take longer than normal. One day pass. If it is often, it can be torture, since the consumption on trips, as usual in electric vehicles, is higher.
If you like the model, the 2022 Niro is offered in hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. Not very exciting too, but without that handicap to carry them on a trip. Today the electric SUVs on the market already offer greater charging power… even within the brand, such as the Kia EV6 thanks to its 800-volt architecture.
In favor of the e-Niro, that most rivals at the moment are smaller and have less autonomy due to their urban approach. And the e-Niro’s prices aren’t much higher. Other possible rivals, in the case of the Volkswagen ID.3 or the Megane E-Tech are more expensive with equal equipment. With the Drive level that our test unit had, it is already very complete (€46,900) although if they had been stretched and included the heat pump to gain autonomy (exclusive of the highest finish), they would have embroidered it.
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