All-New 2023 Kia Niro Is Affordable Style and Efficiency
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
- The second-generation Kia Niro can be had as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid with 33 miles of electric range, and a full EV. The 2023 model is more efficient, more stylish and more tech savvy. And it starts at under $28,000 (yes, with shipping). Tom Voelk travels to San Diego, CA to check out the tech and find out why there’s wall paper inside the cabin.
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About Tom: Tom Voelk is an award-winning automotive contributor to The New York Times. His podcast was the first to win an Emmy Award (and he's won for photography, editing, producing and reporting). But really, all you need to know is in the videos.
00:00 Intro
00:49 3 kinds of Niro
1:03 Welcome to the event
1:25 Wallpaper? Green Zone
2:35 Hybrid model
3:30 Plug-in hybrid
4:38 EV model
5:26 PHEV performance
7:28 Standard safety tech
8:04 Interior
9:48 Back seat
10:56 Design
11:39 Cargo
12:36 Red Light Green Light
13:40 Summary
14:22 Epilogue
15:16 Logos!
2023 Kia Niro review, new Kia Niro review, new kia Nero review, 2023 Kia Nero review, Tom Voelk, Tom volk, Tom Volk car reviews, Kia Niro EV range, - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
This review is an example of why I love Tom's reviews and why he's one of the better reviewers out there. He keeps the perspective relative to the class of vehicle. Many reviewers would complain about this not having 500 hp or not beinging able to pull a 3 second 0-60 time, when the vast majority of actual regular people (who are the target market for this) couldn't care less about those two things. This vehicle was made to be an efficient everyday vehicle that is affordable for most people. It appears to provide that in spades. Now if they can just get their dealership experience improved, that would go a long way.
Yeah, I keep hearing that about dealerships. The one's I've dealt with in Seattle have been fine. Our son is using the Soul in LA and he's yet to talk to a human at the one near his apartment. Just keeps getting a recording when trying to schedule an appointment.
@@DrivenCarReviews i wonder tom do you film this yourself you don't tell us
I agree, I will never get the point of talking about handling and understeer when reviewing CR-V or RAV4 or a Corolla.
Just purchased the EX and I am very impressed with the smooth and quick accleration, quiet drive and gas mileage so far. Paid $1000 less than MERP for the 2023 as the 2024's are about to come out.
I dig the design. Plus, I like hybrids. Best of both worlds...no range anxiety and still high MPG.
I really dig the design/price of this. The lack of AWD rules it out for me given our winter weather in PA.
I like it! since I switched to a hybrid it feels like I can't go back to ICE only. I think for 1 car owners the PHEV makes a lot of sense and a PHEV will probably be my next car in a few years.
A great value and well-conceived and engineered product. Kia's only get better. The styling, for me, just doesn't work, but it's great to have an EV option at this price point with this level of features and amenities. I hope it succeeds so the brand will invest more money into both EVs and Hybrids that we all can afford like this. Wish they would dare to design and build a wagon/estate for car geeks like me.
Another great review Tom. I have a 2019 Niro PHEV, its a very nice, easy to drive city car, decent on highway as well. We have the loaded EX version and all mechanical and safety features work seamlessly. Interior is quite nice, very spacious feeling (actually feels more spacious than our 22 Outback) with excellent visibility in all directions. With flat folding seats the cargo area can handle a lot of gear and even a full size road or mt bike (with front wheel off). Its not a powerhouse but no problem getting over 3,000' passes here in WA.
Although 2019 PHEV is rated at 26 mpg I (and most other owners) typically get 28-32 miles / charge. Also the highway mileage on both HEV and PHEV typically exceed EPA rating. While I'm not crazy about the piano black, but ours has held up well for 16K miles.
Gen 2 has some nice improvements but not enough to entice me to spring for a new one -- assuming one could find one.
The video quality is perfect…It’s the reviewer and reviews I intend to focus on:)! Great review as always…
I imagine the reason Kia says the PHEV will only be 15 percent of sales is because they only plan to produce the PHEV in a volume to match that estimate. That, and the fact that the Sportage PHEV is probably close to the same price.
Fun Fact. The original Kia logo (with the oval) was inspired from the Ford logo (blue oval with stylized Ford inside it). Kia started their beginnings making small cars for other companies, including Ford. The Festiva was a Kia product. In Kia's early beginnings, they weren't allowed to compete with Hyundai as the Government didn't want Hyundai to suffer (it was a very large company and important to the Korean economy), so Kia was only allowed to produce cars for other brands Eventually, Kia was allowed to sell their own products, but they didn't do very well and suffered financially. Hyundai bought them, and the two share resources still do this day (but compete against each other).
One more fun fact, the the two companies are extremely competitive with each other, sibling rivalry to the extreme. And they're gunning for Toyota with the passion of 1,000 suns.
Extra fun fact... the oval wasn't the original logo. When I lived in Korea I once stumbled upon an old 80s Kia Pride in excellent condition (rare to see old cars over there; it was like a grandparent of the Morning / Picanto). The logo had the top of the K like a wave.
@@marioseoul Yeah that was different. Extra extra fun fact, sometimes you'll see Kias with "Korean market badging" replacements that looks like an abstract K. The folks at Kia say it's not theirs. It's an aftermarket company that came up with that. At least that's what the Kia people say.
@@marioseoul Sorry, I should have "previous logo", not "original logo". Although, the Kias that were sold in North America would have only had the previous (our original) as they weren't sold here in prior years (as a Kia).
$40,800 is an insane price for this, wish you would have shown us the sub 30k models.
Kia didn't bring the lower trims.
@@DrivenCarReviews A good candidate for the actual review then 👍
That's the problem with many of these videos. The company usually just gives the nicest version out at events and for reviews. It's kind of annoying, but just getting an idea of the overall car is nice.
KIA doesn’t offer factory GPS in the lower trims, therefore buyers need to Apple CarPlay or AndroidAuto. In the upper trim, factory GPS is the default setting.
Where can I recycle my used wallpaper? Asking for a friend! Lol. Good review!!
2:06 Sofyan and Rob looking really engaged in the presentation.
Got my Niro HEV this week, just love it! This car is certainly not going to win any drag races but it's got enough power to get up to speed in an acceptable manner. Better yet the car drives smoothly, it's quite, comfortable, has tons of safety equipment, and of course the milage rocks. It's surprising how spacious it feels on the inside as it's so much smaller than my former Sportage. The only thing I'll really miss is AWD, but just ordered some Blizzak winter tires and that should work just as well.
Smart move on the tires
7:07 that's a cool shot of the stationary wheel "illusion". Great review as usual Tom.
It is a cool effect, isn't it?
It would be cool if it were intentional and calculated, but I doubt it was.
@@DrivenCarReviews Very cool, watched it over and over!
LOVING YOUR PRODUCTIONS TOM 👏❤️❤️👏
Tom, I wonder whether vehicles will continue to creep up in size in the era of electrics. People may begin to value range over extra space? Thanks for an excellent video.
....and good luck finding one at _any_ KIA dealership right now! I don't mean at MSRP without a substantial mark-up. I mean just finding one at all for sale. Good friend of mine who is heavy into EVs and had this model as his first EV purchase, got fed up with going to one KIA dealership after another and not being able to find a single one. So fed up that he took my advice, and went to negotiate for a 2023 Chevy Bolt at the nearest Chevrolet dealership to his home. They've got them.
Kia just started production on the EV so yes, it will be awhile before they hit US showrooms.
@@DrivenCarReviews
Well, KIA should have done better with their timing. My good friend now has a 2023 Chevy parked in his driveway. Apparently couldn't be happier with it.
Kia dealers in Seattle area got dozens of the HEV model in their lots last week. And they seem to be selling -- one dealer had 9 of 19 on his website marked as sold. I do not know if they are marking them up or not. PHEVs supposed to start arriving here by Nov.
@@danhall3450 Funny, I just saw my first one in the wild when I was running to the hardware store this evening. It was dusk though and caught it out of the corner of my eye. Not sure of the trim or powertrain.
Very cool looking vehicle, inside and out, so I am sure it will sell well. Kia/Hyundai stylists are amongst the best in the industry right now (IMO). The new-ish logo is nice, but I always see 'KN' at first glance.
Thanks!
Thanks so much Peter. Mighty nice of you!
FYI: the dual purpose rotary button for hvac and audio can be set to default back to your preference by holding the capacitive button of your choice for a couple of seconds. Set it to audio, switch to hvac to adjust, and it will flip back to audio.
Yup. But that doesn't mean it will be in the right position when you want to use the panel.
@@DrivenCarReviews no. Just means you get to prioritize. It's a middle ground between no knob and traditional layouts. I have to assume the capacitive stuff is cheaper to mass produce than mechanical switches, and that's driving automakers to try and force it on us.
Thanks, Tom.
The Koreans are knockin ‘er outta the Park these days.
New logo much nicer.
How is your Caddie these days, btw?
This is certainly a Prius competitor…even if the form factor is a bit off.
True
I just got mine. Hybrid EX touring. It was between that and the plug in hybrid. I didn't get the plug in bc it was 35 miles? If it was 100 miles I would've purchased that one. The car is nice. The screens look cool. It's a nice car, and I think I'm going to enjoy it.
No AWD, not keen on the tachometer,I didn’t see lumbar for the driver you said it was the top model,the aero blades are growing on me as is the overall styling I prefer the new KIA logo it sits well and the blue of the test vehicle was gorgeous especially in the sunlight .
I may be in the minority, but I find the contrasting aero blade very unattractive. I also think the slow charge speed of the EV a deal breaker. The interior is sharp. The PHEV in full body color seems to be the best options. Great video as always, Tom.
Different strokes as they say. Thing is, for many people the slow charging works if they don't travel much (or at all). It allows Kia to sell this at a lower price.
Eucalyptus leaves in the seats? Might be good for a stuffy nose but I would feel bad for Koala bears every time i sat down.
Wonderful video as always, Tom, It's a shame our US government takes away the tax incentives for these Korean and wonderfully made PHEVs and EVs. I wonder how it will affect the sales. So happy I bought my Sorento PHEV last year and pocketed $6600 tax incentives!
In the end, it's really smart to reward US production. I think the politicians got it right here.
@@DrivenCarReviews The tax incentives artificially keep prices high. Look at the Chevy Bolt when it stopped being available for the rebate. The price almost immediately dropped by that same amount. The electric ford truck had something like this too.
I think Kia is right with the expection the normal hybrid will be the most popular. PHEV is still a no go if you don't have access to at home charging, as apartment/condo dwellers will not consistently use public charging when they have the ICE to fall back on. The mileage will likely be worse since they are hauling around a heavy battery mostly using the gas engine.
There's a slight difference in fuel economy but it's not huge.
Awesome review as always.
Is Tom actually running out of fun facts 😳😱
Kind of painted myself into a corner on that
Any memory on the driver’s seat? We have one car and we’re a foot apart in height. This looks like a great car for us, particularly the PHEV drivetrain.
Yes, 2 positions. Chances are it's only on the top model though.
Hi Tom, great review as always. For the phev that you own, do you put fuel stabilizer since only one tank of gas used per year?
I do not. I've talked to experts in the petroleum industry and they have said this is just fine just so long as it doesn't go much longer than that. Both my car and my wife's have a setting that will force the engine on to burn up the tank to make sure it doesn't go bad.
Nice to see a somewhat affordable car review. Feel like he’s just been reviewing luxury or high end vehicles lately
I really dig a lot of the design elements of this car, as well as it being exclusively either hybrid or electric. The only gripe I have with it is the lack of a model with more power. It seems prime for a FWD Hybrid "GT" version that uses the 2.0T in the K5 GT, though packaging may not allow that.
There's a shocking lack of full-hybrid hot-hatches in the US :(
I like the hot hatch segment. They're a blast to drive. However, not every vehicle has to have a performance model. Enthusiasts actually make up a small (but VERY loud) segment of automotive sales. Niro is about efficiency. There are plenty of fun cars out there to choose from. That said, the Niro EV seems to be slightly quicker and more fun to drive because of the lower center of gravity.
2:06 - the man, myth, legend Joe Raiti (Raiti's Rides) at the end of the row next to Sofyan.
1st😜😂 ..HAPPY TUESDAY...HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY EVERYONE ✌️
Niro is definitely a good all-rounder. own/ed three Kias from mostly owning Lexus, Kia interior wears nicely and looks/feels good even after 5 plus years which I can't say the same for Lexus products and their cheap leather. when the pricing of new vehicles returns to normal state, I will look into both Prius and Niro to replace my current Niro.
Great review and one that prompts a question: so...if one owns a PHEV and it's possible to skip gas station visits to the point where you fill up once a year...hmmm, doesn't the gas in the tank degrade, and wouldn't that eff up the injectors, or somehow foul the gas engine? Signed, Bewildered in the Bronx
I have been told by experts in the petroleum industry that having gas in your tank for a year will not hurt anything. Anything longer starts to get iffy. My PHEVs have a feature that forces the engine on after a certain period of time to to burn it off.
As the owner of a new Santa Fe PHEV, I'm also surprised they aren't more popular. We're averaging over 70 mpg, and that's with about 50% highway driving. But the politics surrounding them have been flip-flopping.
The original Build Back Better language was to lower PHEV tax credit to $4000. CARB has published studies showing that PHEVs struggle with emissions due to the more-polluting nature of frequent cold starts, because the engine is less likely to come to temperature. Things looked bad for PHEVs.
But in the last year, things look considerably brighter. CARB has included PHEVs in their post-2035 "EV-only" worldview, giving an out for larger ICE-adjacent vehicles to still exist. And when the incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act take place, North American-built PHEVs (neither the Niro or my Santa Fe would apply) get a fixed $7500 tax credit. (Previously, the tax credit amount hinged on battery size; since I bought my car JUST before the new incentives took place, I still qualify for ~ $6500 in credits.)
So. Being a product planner for PHEV sales is far, far, far from easy.
A lot of the PHEV dings come from people not plugging them in. Apparently the dynamic in Europe is that many people get them as company cars and the company pays for gas. There's no incentive to plug them in. And I've heard about the "cold start" issue. Odd since when ours uses gas, it acts just like a regular hybrid. And yes, product planning is hard. In any segment. But especially automotive.
Tom Mutchler- Miss you on Talking Cars! How's the Durango??
@@davidcarey4803 Long gone, and probably sending its current owner to the poorhouse. (I dumped over $6000 in repairs into it during 2019.) I now have a 2020 Kia Telluride, as well as my new Santa Fe PHEV.
@@tommutchler2939 Funny, I bought a Telluride 2 weeks ago. Great car! Things must be getting back to normal because I didn't have to pay any markup. I liked the 2022 styling more than the updated 2023...
4:45 Robert de Niro would respectfully disagree.
I see what you did there...
"piano scratch" finish
Is there any way you could do a review in your personal plug in vehicle??
I'm not sure what the benefit would be. The car isn't for sale and there are only 2,400 left on the road. So probably not.
I only wear Levi's too. Either 501's or 511"s. Anything else would be uncivilized. Lol. I hope everyone's having a nice day.
3:00, he’s so proud of his 53mpg. But he’s calling this a crossover. This front wheel drive small hatch.. a crossover. My Escape AWD Hybrid can get around 43-45mpg (depending how nice I play). These marketing folks are silly sometimes.
All of the manufactures call them SUV/crossovers. There's no stopping it. And you can argue that many SUVs are just raised wagons or hatchbacks. The circle is unbroken.
Have they fixed the transmission problem or the censor glitches they've had with their previous models that the dealers couldn't fix ???
How does the ride, handling and NVH compare to a Prius?
It's been a couple years since I've been in the current gen Prius. Going through my notes from my last Prius story, seems to me the Niro is slightly quieter with better handling. Should be, it's a much more modern car. Also, the Kia is a little quicker and doesn't have the CVT dynamic of the Toyota.
Is it best practice to use a fuel stabilizer when one owns a PHEV, because in daily driving it so rarely uses the actual gas?
Nope. For starters, the old gas thing is very overblown. Also most PHEVs have a function of running the engine to make sure the gas is used up by a particular time. I
@@DrivenCarReviews Good to know. Thanks.
@@diegomontoya8889 I mean you can, but if you use a good quality top tier fuel then it's been explained to me it's not critical. First you should find out how much or little you actually fill up.
Certainly an improvement in looks exterior and interior. Tell me, do you get emails from viewers interested in some other interior color scheme other than black?
No asks on different color ways. I think I included a shot of the light interior in the video during the EV section.
So, is there no auto cruise control offered on the new Kia Niro??
There is. Off the top of my head, I believe it's standard on all but the base models of the HEV and PHEV, and standard on all EV. Check before you buy.
What actual hotel did you stay in San Diego? (Note: Kia might’ve been over the top with brand marketing.)
It was north up near Carlsbad, I'd have to look it up.
Just drove the 2023 Niro PHEV. Nice car but two major issues: 1) the interior dome lights have a sickly and awful color temperature, almost cool blue like daylight. 2) the lack of wireless carplay / android auto.
All of those logos reminds me of going into a store in a college town and seeing all of the merchandise.
Hopefully they figure out to repair and support these cars. I can tell you from experience, it will be fine until it isn't, and then God help you once the service department gets their hands on it. Don't be surprised if they can't fix it.
What is your experience William? I've not heard of many instances of a dealer not being able to fix a car.
@@DrivenCarReviews 21 Niro PHEV only 6 months in, 13000 miles dead as a doornail with multiple high voltage system failures. Sat in shop for 7 months before they just bought it back......
Factory engineers took several stabs at repair with no success.
thumbnail was a little creepy, not gonna lie, lmao
Tom are you getting a KN tattoo?
Not brand loyal to anything, so, no.
Still competing in the crossover market with no AWD.
Have to pass - no awd!
I have trouble understanding why PHEV's don't do better here . . . it is the utility man of the Electrified Vehicles; not the best gas mileage, not the most efficient EV, but it does both!
- Sadly, the Niro is not AWD.
Not enough electric range, that's why nobody bites. They really don't need to be shoving a 4 cyl 1.6 litre engine in these things, just use a little 3 cyl 1.2 litre generator as a range extender and increase the size of the battery further - this concept has been executed in other cars successfully. The problem with PHEV is they are an afterthought, they use the hybrid model as the basis and just try to make the battery and motor a bit bigger. They need to be "electric vehicle with backup engine" not "hybrid with bigger battery," they should take the Niro EV, cut the battery size in half and then throw a tiny 3 cylinder engine/generator in the front that you can turn on with a button to supply extra energy to the electric system.
PHEVs sell well if they say Jeep on them somewhere. For others it seems to be more of an education issue. People don't realize how much of their driving a 30 mile electric range will cover.
@@0hypnotoad0 If you live within 15-20 miles of your job AND you can plug it in every night, 30+ miles of range will cover most of your normal driving. If outside of that, you will use more gasoline than Tom and his wife do in their PHEVs, but most folks will still save by charging the PHEV over buying gas, especially at today's gas prices.
@@1guyin10 Toyota sold over 50k PHEV's last year . . . would have been more if they could make enough RAV4 Primes to fill orders . . . and they sold only 300 less RAV4 Primes than Jeep sold 4xe PHEVs.
@@OldThomMerton If you live within 15-20 miles of work, and that's all you ever drive, then not buying a car using a car share or an e-bike is drastically cheaper and more environmentally friendly than getting a PHEV. I just don't see the point in having an "EV" with an extremely limited electric range. It's like "well if you don't really do serious mileage and really don't need a car, then a PHEV is a great choice!" like, just don't get a car then 🤷♂️
I own a Volvo XC40 and I see the design is almost a copy of Volvo XC40, the seats are almost the same
Did the pancakes have the logo imbedded in them?🤓
Don't give them any ideas Joe.
much nicer than the SouL. Hopefully boomers flock to this instead.
You do a disservice Tom saying ,again, that you only fill your personal car’s gas tank once a year. After all you get someone else’s car to drive for a week at a time 50 weeks a year.
Not at all Tom. For starters, I don’t drive my testers every day of the week, especially thirsty ones. I’m also smart enough to project out my daily driving if I didn’t have testers. And my wife never drives the cars, puts 10K on her Volt annually and buys, you guessed it, one, maybe two tanks of gas a year. For the ELR, 35 miles of range multiplied by 365 equals nearly 12.7K miles of electric range. For her, 45 X 365 = 16.4K of EV miles. Easy. Those figures are charging only overnight. I could add range by charging after every trip.
@@DrivenCarReviews well said Tom. I like posing these questions/statements as I’m sure I’m not the only one who dreams this stuff up.
Chemical-free paint? Even God would not dare to make this claim. Also, paying extra for an unpainted "aeroblade"? Ok, it is painted black, but looks like a primed spare part.
The full phrase is supposed to be "VOC free paint". The presenter just shortened it for the presentation, which is standard practice.
@@logikgr Standard practice for dummies? What is next? Calling a war special military operation? Spare me of standard practice nonsense.
Yup, just shortened since BTX-free paint (benzene, toluene, and xylene isomers) is kind of wonky to most.
I just love the way they keep pushing their lie about 53 MPG. What a bunch of bull shit. I bought one and am lucky if I get 37 MPG if it's cold outside, I only get 27 MPG. I even went back to my dealer and asked how I get this 53 MPG. and was told that you only get that under certain conditions. And that I should be happy getting 40 MPGs. and that's if it's nice outside. I am very unhappy with this car. And after this i will never believe Kia again.
Still too low to the ground.
Kind of ugly, don't like the aero blade in the back. The interior is decent though.
Most models don't have the contrasting color panel FYI.
You're being too kind. After months of waiting, I just heard from my dealer they're getting in a cityscape green Niro with that blade on it. I looked it up and it is literally the ugliest car I've ever seen. I don't want to be that shallow, but I can't drop all that money just to look at that every day. The car is a level up from what we ordered and I don't need the extras anyway, so I'm going to keep waiting.
I watch all of Tom's videos since his NYTimes reviews. Please stop making up a new word for PHEV, it's called a "plug-in hybrid", not a "P-HEV". If you're inventing a new trend why not be phonetic and call it a "FEV". I assume you don't because it sounds bad. Tom spends a good amount of time and workmanship in editing... This was an oversight that should fizzle away. Keep up the good work otherwise
It's pretty common to call them "P-HEVs" I'm not making anything up.
i wonder tom do you film this yourself you don't tell us
evil twin " Really can't make it to events or they "XXX Car Company " won't pay for the both of you..???... seen others do it. ( or do they foot the bill themselves.)
He's on the "no fly list". That's why.
@@DrivenCarReviews roger that .. join the club:)
Thanks!
Thanks very much David!