My second impressions: Kia e-Niro after two months.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- After two months (nearly) of the e-Niro - what do I like about it? Many things, as it happens. Here are some random thoughts as I drive along and some detail about a few of my favourite features.
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I use the hold-regen all the time in the Kona - TBH I've not noticed if the brake pedal does regen. Just wish it woudl also do it on the RH paddle for 1-handed driving!
The auto regen uses the front radar, so will only slow down if there is a car in front. If you set regen to min, then you will see the regen arrows appear on the dispaly as regen comes in as you approach a car in front when coasting.
Sometimes is better to use break, everything depends on road etc but in the traffic the best option is to take off your feet from acceleration. Great channel 👍
Very pleased with mine at 2 months, also, mirroring your experience. I do wish the manual were more compact. Availability needs to be ramped up.
I’m pretty sure the auto regeneration modulates regen breaking depending on the distance to the car ahead... not a junction.
I am seriously envious that you have one of these.
Great video as always of what i think is a brilliant car for the money.
I had a good chat to a Kia dealer the other day and he is under the impression that we probably won't see any more e-Niro's until late 2020 early 2021. He went on to say they are going to be changing the spec with added ventilated seats (Kona?) and a bigger display around autumn (2nd edition) and to prove his point a week later and what pops up on my notifications, TeslaBjorn driving the new Kia e-Soul and what does it have a bigger display and ventilated seats, so you know a 2nd generation Niro will be along soon.
I think I might like the look of the new e-Soul more.
I've figured trying to decide on what EV to get in the UK reminds me off trying to buy a new TV, you spend ages researching trying to make your mind up and when you do they sell out or a better version appears or a different manufacturer brings in their version which appeals to you. So when do you bite the bullet and just bloody pick one?
Oh and it appears the UK will be last in the queue, Norway will always be the first.
So do I buy a Zoe to tide my EV curiosity until the UK market calms down? Or have you fallen asleep reading my drivel?
It is irritating we got such a limited spec for the Niro and the TV analogy is spot-on!
I think a second-hand Zoe or Leaf to tide you over and then get the 2nd gen e-Niro (or e-Soul - I agree, it’s lovely). The Zoes and Leafs hold their value well so you’d not lose anything much (at all?).
I'm not sure if it is already said but then you hold the left regen the car comes to a complete stop because Auto Hold is activated. You can do the same with the break by enabling Auto Hold through a button in the center console. Strange thing is that you have to enable it every time you start the car so it's not in the config menu. (VESS stands for: Virtual Engine Sound System)
To compare experiences since I too have had mine for just short of two months, now at 2.5K miles.
As an example of range - the trip to Fully Charged for me was 259 miles, and I had 49 miles on the GOM. That was travelling at a steady 60mph for 80% of the miles.
Paddle regeneration - I use this a lot for the reason that it does bring the car to a standstill, and then holds it there without 'creep'; otherwise I have to switch on 'auto-hold' to achieve the same thing with the brake pedal. I am not at all sure why they decided to build 'creep' into an electric car. It makes sense on an automatic, but no sense on electric (IMHO).
Auto-regen - I never use it. But it I don;t think it knows when you are approaching a roundabout. I think it uses the radar (Lidar) to watch the cars in front of you and adjust based on your speed and distance. So - it will drop-off on a motorway and get a bit stringer around town. In fact I keep all three modes (Eco, Std, Sport) fixed at level 3 regen. I have found changing the 'regen' level to be 'dangerous', in that - if you spend most of your time in eco mode at level 3 regen for instance, and then occasionally swap to sport mode and have that at level 1, all of a sudden I am not as prepared to brake 'normally' as I should be.
VESS and Lane Assist - agree with you - really annoying to have to turn them off every drive. It should be an option to have both turned off by default, unless I want to turn them on (say in a public car park).
The radar cruise control and lane assist do work very well (much better at keeping you central and not so 'bouncy' between the lines as my previous Mazda CX-5). Also - If you haven't tried it already, use it in a traffic jam. You literally have nothing to do, the car creeps along, and stays in the lane, and starts and stops with the car in front of you.
Memory Seats - this is one of the most annoying things for me. One reason I picked the Niro rather than the Kona was that the original spec had Memory Drivers seat on the Niro, whereas the Kona came with two power seats. However, for the UK spec they changed so that we only get one powered seat that does not have memory positions. Like you, I share the car with my wife, so this is frustrating.
Android Auto - Google voice assistant almost always works perfectly. You can literally dictate messages whilst on the move and it will get the message 100% right, 95% of the time. You don't have an accent (at least compared to my my fairly heavy Yorkshire accent).
Drive mode- agree - I spend most of my time in Eco mode. On 2.5K miles, I have an average of 4.8 mpkwh, but without even thinking about how I am driving. Oddly, my wife used to get really poor MPG on petrol cars, but gets much better mpkwh than I do in the Niro.
Charging - I think the thing most people miss about charging is that, you always start out with a full charge. So - even when I had a BMW i3 with only 80 miles range, I only ever used the range extender a couple of times. You take the kids to school (30 miles), come back and plug in. Two hours later you pop down to Tesco (25 miles), but you are starting out with 80 miles again. Come back and plug-in, and so forth. It's very different from running down a tank of petrol.
With 300 miles range, we don't even do that anymore. Our weekly charging routine is as follows:
- Go to Lidl on Sunday
- The Lidl has a FREE 50Kw PodPoint charger
- In the time it takes to do a bit of shopping for the week, the car is charged to 100%, = ~300 miles
- Plug car into Zappi charger at home
- The Zappi feeds any unused power from the solar panels into the car (it's weather dependent of course, but since April, that has provided another 5Kw per day = 25 miles per day = 175 miles per week)
- 475 Miles is more than our normal weekly travel, so our weekly travel is totally free, and I don't have to visit petrol stations in the wind/rain.
Interior - agree with you. It could be nicer, but I don't have any rattles. Also - looking at the Model 3 at fully charged - that seemed to have a lot of hard plastics too.
Started a round trip to Wolverhampton , Birmingham, South Wales on Sunday with 289 miles on GOM. First part of trip about 120 miles at speeds of 77mph. Then drove another 47 miles at c 70 mph. Then at start of journey home I had 19 miles more on the GOM than i needed so decided to go home at 56 mph. All motorway driving all using adaptive cruise and no heater/aircon in eco mode. Arrived home with 30 miles on GOM . Total actual distance 269 miles plus 30 on GOM = 299. So I beat original GOM reading by 10 miles. Dont know what the optimum speed is for efficiency but it looks like its about 60 mph. My E Niro has now done 3000 miles since delivery in mid April. LOVE it!
@@a6rrw The believe the old MPG and WLTP tests were carried out at 56MPH / 90KMPH, and so historically manufacturers tried to optimise engine/gearing for that speed. Not sure what you can do for electric vehicles, but 55 to 60 does seem to be efficient.
I think the biggest impact on efficiency is wind resistance, so in general slower is always going to be better.
Thanks so much for your reply and great you got such a good economy on your trip to FCL! My next video will go into detail about what I got, too.
I have a feeling Lane Assist and VESS can be switched off in the settings (using the steering wheel menu) - I’ll look into it again though. The regen setting changing every time you turn on the car is very annoying too and I’m quite certain that can’t be changed.
I agree - SCC in a traffic jam is amazing!
That’s so great you’re driving around for free most of the time. Something I love about EVs is that we all become a bit better at thinking about energy in a smarter way.
Thanks again!
Great to hear! The efficiency really blows me away.
@@MrEV Hi Andrew - I was also annoyed about having to keep changing my regen setting each time I use the car. But you can change it in the settings menu to default to whatever you like. So now it defaults to level 3 every time I use it. I only ever use level 3 as does my wife. I'm not sure why there are another 2 levels plus auto. I think slh commented on having the different settings as well. Once you are used to any level it means your braking is consistent. If you change regen levels you have different braking characteristics - so I simply can't be bothered doing that.
Thanks for the honest review. Got a 3.0tdi A8 Audi E-Niro on order and charger installed. Just need the car now 😩😩😩😩😩
How long will you have to wait?
Great video👌🏻👍🏻🚘🤗 god job
Great review. I have had my Niro EV for four months now. My car has both full LED headlights and memory (for two drivers) on the driver's seat (even adjusts the mirrors).
We’ve gotten such a bad deal in the UK. 😢
Here here
Ive had my E-niro for 3 Months and i love it! and Ditto on Tor Eide. Full LED headlights and memory seat :)
That was a nice sum up review, the Cruise Control is similar to what I have in my Ioniq and the other good use for it is in heavy stop-start commute traffic. You can just sit back and let the car do the work and it makes the whole thing less stressful. I tend to keep mine set to 0 regen and coast whenever possible and I average 6.6 klw often much higher, remember until the last minute each time you use the brake pedal regen activates as opposed to the friction brakes. I don't understand why they left off the seat presets the Ioniq allows you to store two settings for seats, lights, and mirrors. Drive safely
That’s so true. I was stuck in a jam on the motorway and it made it so less stressful!
Hey! I have been saving up for a Tesla model y for the last couple of years.. I live in Sweden so I have to wait for Berlin.. however or old car broke down and I simply had to have a car scince I also have a wife and child... an I have promised myself for a long time I wouldn’t buy a gas car agin. so two weeks ago I pulled a three year lease on the 21 e-Niro and Delivery is due next week or the week after.. can’t wait and from watching your vids I’m now confident the car will live up to our needs in the coming years:)
I trust the Ionity charger is now working again. After seeing your vid using it for the 1st time i told my wife who used it the following day ( and probably broke it!) Whilst using it she was unable to stop it charging and was therefore locked onto the charger until she could call the help desk (who answered very quickly) and they were able to "release" her remotely
That’s great to hear the help desk were quick to answer. I’m assuming they’re having some teething problems! As of this moment, all four chargers are working fine according to their app.
Yep used it again yesterday - all 4 stations ok
Absolutely brilliant video. Thanks Andrew. Question if I may. Do you charge your car at home on a fast charger or just use a standard 3pin charger? One of my friends here in the UK who has the Kona says he uses Shell charging points whenever he can as they can be used without an account and they charge up very fast indeed and it's cheap. I've not checked that but he seems to know what he is talking about on most things. Might be worth a look if you have them in your locality.
Thanks very much Ian! I generally charge at home on a 7kW wall charger - I just use the 3-pin “granny” charger for when visiting family. I don’t have any Shell stations near me unfortunately. Charging is 39p/kWh which isn’t too bad. Certainly better than IONITY anyway!
Andrew, i have ordered my niro in januari,i receive the car in october,looking forward to drive with it.
Thank u for all the comment and review .
Carl.
Thanks for this informative driver's view of this very good VFM EV. Road noise hopefully less apparent in real life than on the video! Most electric are spookily quiet ...hence the addition of a choice of three artificial motor sounds on the Renault Zoe, to warn the unsuspecting of your approach. Cheers!
The road noise sounds awful on the video, doesn’t it?! It’s just because I had to crank up the volume a bit to hear my voice - it’s actually pretty quiet!
I didn’t know the Zoe had three different sounds?! All EVs will have to have that soon due to EU regulations.
Tire change by other owners like the Continental cross climate all weather tire in North America give better grip and less noise inside the cabin. Cheers from Canada
The cream mode is useful in slow moving traffic, The auto regeneration as far as I know works on the basis of traffic in front slowing down and not based on junctions, roundabouts etc.
It seems quite inconsistent. Sometimes I do notice the level changing automatically based on the traffic but when I expect it to work other times, it doesn’t. I’m trying to find out more so I can make a video just about that.
Andrew Till
I’m led to believe that the road sign recognition which would help with roundabouts and crossroads etc. At least in the UK is switched off. Sorry previous post suffered from predictive spell, it’s a sod at times Colin
Hi Andrew many thanks for the informative videos. I know the UK spec of the E-Niro is lower than the US,no sunroof or ventilated front seats but can you tell me is the driver’s seat programmable to move rearwards when opening the driver’s door?
Many thay
Unfortunately not. 🙁
I recently rode in a e-Niro and it had seat memory, but it was an xtra that came in a package with ventilated seats among other things. Not sure if that option was available when you leased, but it is here in denmark in april 2020.
Unfortunately we don’t have the option in the UK. 😔
I do wonder how the autopilot copes if you get a big fly splat in front of the camera
Probably warm you and switch off
Had somehow missed this one. You mention about why people don't like EV's, it's well as you can imagine that people don't like change an individual can like change but people generally don't. Weird I know. They feel threatened I think from what they have known their entire life to suddenly have to do something in a totally different way. My next EV I'm thinking of the facelift eNiro as it can tow, a small amount I know but enough for my needs, longer range, easier to get in/out of being a tall driver and for my tall kids. Plus has all the same types of features as my current Ioniq including coast mode which I find very few EV's have they all have the one-pedal driving mode or most do.
Its amazing how many responders spell break when they mean BRAKE..Using regen on an i3 with the one pedal design makes more sense as ones right foot is controlling acceleration and regen that produces retardation all without using ones hands.
Nice chill real world review. That efficiency is amazing! I avg about 3.7 mpkw in my 2018 leaf and I don’t hammer it. You are one of the lucky few to have one of these. Does anyone know why these are in such short supply? They used Robert De Niro to promote this at launch, then made about 10 of them, v odd.
Thanks! Kia and Hyundai blame battery supply but I think that’s a pretty flimsy excuse. More likely (and pretty much confirmed by a leaked memo to sales staff in Spain) is that they don’t want to sell any EVs until 2020 as that’s when harsh EU emissions regs come in.
So, they’ve been effectively just getting good press so they can be seen as environmentally friendly etc but it’s just marketing. They’ll face a lot of competition in 2020 so it seems like a stupid strategy to me. Such a great car though!
@@MrEV Yep I think I heard something to that end - agree it seems daft playing politics rather than just getting on and selling cars people are desperate to buy from you. At this point I don't think it cannibalises sales of their other cars, because if you decide you want EV - you just want an EV that's all there is to it. And yes, why wait for 2020 EU regs? VW is poised to grab a whole lot of headlines in early 2020 once the iD3 finally starts rolling out, maybe they see that as "free" EV awareness for them, rather than competition? Hmm... Anyway, I'm not due for a new EV (lease again probably) til mid 2021, so my options should be quite interesting by then.
I like your zen style ")
Thanks, man!
Hi Mr EV , thanks so much for the great works . I've bought my self kia ENiro and I used it for private hire . My question is how often can I use the DC charger , since I needed a quick charge for my work . . Am I damaging my battery by using DC every day ? Or should I use fast AC instead . And what mode should I be driving in to gain more range . George
Rapid charging will reduce the lifespan of the battery a little over time although it's almost difficult to say just how much as there's just not enough data out there for Kia's batteries yet. AC charging would prolong the life of your battery but you may find it inconvenient plugging into AC chargers so much: it will depend on what fits in best for you. You want the car to work for you so personally I'd not worry too much but just prioritise AC charging if it makes sense (when you're parked up for a while, for instance).
It's generally best to have high regen around town and coast as much as possible on the motorway. I leave mine in auto with level 1 regen for the motorway and change it to level 3 around town.
Fantastic video! How much does it cost to charge full battery? And how long does it take to charge to the full? Thanks
If you’re charging at home with a fairly standard energy provider (let’s say 13 pence per kW) then you’re looking at £8.32 to ‘fill the tank’ from 0 to 100%.
If you can get on a cheaper deal - or a smart tariff so you can charge off peak - then it’s even cheaper. Have a look here: th-cam.com/video/TpXgvZsDRTY/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video brother. How many miles to a full charge do you get when the car is in Sport Mode? I'm very curious to know. Thanks in advance.
It doesn’t seem to affect the range very much at all: turning on air con is far worse I think. I’ll try to do a proper test one of these days though as I’m just as curious to see the data!
@@MrEV Thank you for your response. Looking forward to your test. Blessings.
I have to say the Korean cars seem to be the next best thing to owning a Tesla when it comes to EVs. It seems they came the closest to being almost as good as a 7yr old Tesla so very impressive above all other manufacturers. I can't say anything bad about them.
If only they could make more.
Hmmm, I got my e-niro two days ago and it does have two presets for the seat positions. So me and my wife have two different settings.
You must be somewhere other than the UK? Sadly, the “First Edition” we’ve been lumbered with lacks a lot of goodies found elsewhere. 😞
@@MrEV Yes, in the netherlands. I've got the version that pretty much has all the goodies, except for a 220 outlet for the backseats. I only got it for a few days and still learning, but so far I'm very happy.
At least you can turn the VESS on and off....I had to pull a fuse to disable the fake sound on my Chevy Volt
I like the ums ...its cute.
I finally did a 30-minute drive in my Kia Niro EV 2019 and noticed the driver seat is narrow (seems like it's a little tight and hugging me)... I didnt notice this in my old Nissan LEAF 2017, which I assume now has a wider seat.. anyone else noticed this? Or maybe I'll just get used to it?
Pretty sure, the auto thing with regen only works if you are using the navigation. You should have bought it with memory seats, and the problem is solved :D
Memory seats aren’t an option in the UK “First Edition” spec, sadly. 😞
I noticed in one of your latest videos you mentioned that the next tranche of E-Niro models will have a higher spec.Do you have any details please?
Here you go! I hope this helps: th-cam.com/video/jSGgcN4Cvg0/w-d-xo.html
Can't wait to get ours, but got the Joy's of waiting now, next March we've been told so far
Next March?! Ouch. I reckon you’ll get it faster than that. I’m an optimist.
@@MrEV I hope so Andrew, on the plus side, far more chargers will be about closer to home by then
@@danlovett2158 True - there’s going to be an explosion of chargers on the BP forecourts, for instance. (Bad choice of words!)
i was told by the salesman after a test drive delivery could be up to as much as 15 months to wait........Jesus!!!! i might be dead by then, why don`t they ramp the production line up or build a couple more factories or better still start making them in the uk under licence
are you going to wait that long..........
the best of luck
This year's eNiro has two preset options for the driver's seat.
I hope to get one next year. Given the position of the battery are speed bumps likely to be a concern? There are a lot in my area.
Tony
I’ve gone over many a speed bump (too fast sometimes!) and have never had an issue. I’ve never heard of anyone else having problems either?
Good to know. Many thanks. Tony
Car seems to have normal clearance. I have had no issues at all ( and there are a lot of severe speed bumps near me too ).
The only point I would question is that I don't think historic Teslas are too out there. I just think they cost too much for average Joe. Model 3 is better but still 40k plus is beyond most people
You’re probably right but I can just imagine my Dad getting in the driver’s seat of a Tesla and being just as freaked out as with the iPhone! There’s a level of familiarity with the Niro I think.
Andrew thanks. Loving my one too limo type experience Last night I missed having LEDs on my e-niro. I wonder if it would be better with osram nightbreaker or similar brighter bulbs?
It hadn’t bothered me too much until last night (a stretch of motorway with no lighting) - I’m tempted to look into fitting better bulbs. I might do a video on it one of these days!
@@MrEV It hadnt bothered me either until last night when i did a 75 mile round trip at midnight in a rainstorm along the M4. Miserable. I havent experienced headights as bad as that for about 15 years so LEDs have to be the answer. Please let me know how you get on.
I'm considering an EV for my next vehicle, but I still have a lot of range anxiety. I do fair bit of hilly highway driving, and the highway range sounds lower than the city range. Also the slow recharge times scare me. Sometimes we do road trips of 800-1000 km with only stops for gas and fast food every 400-500 km. I don't think that this is possible yet. Maybe I'll go halfway and get a PHEV.
400 km of highway driving is possible in the e-Niro (in good weather anyway). I imagine a long range Tesla Model 3 or S would get something like 450 km and has the advantage of much faster (and simpler) charging. But yes, highway is certainly taxing on any cars but much more noticeable on EVs. We drove from UK to Rome and back in the summer though and it was fine!
VESS I wish we had the option here in the states but we cannot turn that off and even the lowest trim comes with every safety feature so except for all of the mass shootings in every aspect of life here we really care about safety
I like your style and delivery Andrew,, but (there's always a 'but') it's the "Erm" that's driving me nuts.
Ditto. The erms are very irritating. There must be at least a hundred of them in a 21 minute video. An absolutely dreadful mannerism in anyone who has aspirations to make any sort of speech or presentation. I’ve reached 8 minutes and just can’t stand it any more, so am going elsewhere.
Ditto. The erms are very irritating. There must be at least a hundred of them in a 21 minute video. An absolutely dreadful mannerism in anyone who has aspirations to make any sort of speech or presentation. I’ve reached 8 minutes and just can’t stand it any more, so am going elsewhere.
Does in use normal electrical outlet to charge it at home... aka normal house voltage.... how many hours to do a full charge starting from near zero percent left? Does it have a quick charge?
.. Something like recharge quickly to 75% or is it just a constant charge? Does kia provide some app to find nearest place to recharge?
Yes, you can use a normal plug to charge it. It takes 29 hours to do that (on a UK plug/voltage).
Charging on slow speeds like that is pretty constant. If you rapid charge then it slows down after getting to 80%. Charging from 20-80% on a rapid charger takes about 40 minutes. IONITY chargers are generally the cheapest and best.
There is a map and list of charging points on the infotainment system but you need to connect to wifi to get it to update them.
There will be an app coming for the 2020 model of the e-Niro but (sadly!) mine doesn’t.
@@MrEV thanks for the info, I should have researched (googled) prior to asking my questions. Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to answer.
Could you do a piece on charging at home please? I was wondering if I could get buy with the granny charger, what do you think?
I filmed that months ago and still have to edit! You can certainly get by with the granny charger - it just takes ages to charge fully but the battery is so big, that’s not a problem unless you want to go on a long trip. I’ll edit the episode soon anyway with an idea of speed and timings.
I have had a 7kw charger just installed supplied and fitted inc government grant it cost about £300 it’s a no brainer I think as you have 6/7hrs instead of 25/28hrs.
@@Sav1975 I think you are quoting time to fully recharge. I agree, if you regularly arrive home with a nearly flat battery than the granny will be slow. But in normal driving when you just want to charge up to say 70%, that might not be too long with the granny. It will certainly save the £300 installation.
It does depend on individual usage. We so rarely make long journeys, granny charging worked pretty well for us. There is definitely a level of comfort having a 7kw charger available though: since the charging timer failed the other day, if I didn’t have the 7kw I’d not have had full charge to get to Fully Charged Live.
It depends on your journeys. If you make many small journeys (say local runs to drop kids off, pop-down the shops etc), the you certainly can. You just have to get into the habit of always plugging the car back in when you arrive home. Then, the battery always full (or 80% is advised), for the next journey and you don't have any massive charge times. If you just wanted to plug in a night (say from 9pm to 7am - so 10 hours), then you could put 10 x 3kw = 30Kw which is approx 120 to 150 mile range. So, so long as you didn't do more than that in a day you would be OK.
Only time it would be an issue is if you have done a long journey, depleted the battery, and then needed to do another longish journey the next day. But - if this would be a rare case, then you would just find your nearest 50kw (or better) charging point and pop down to it for about 40 mins. Around us, all the Lidl shops have a free to use 50Kw PodPoint charger, which is perfect as we use once per week for our shopping.
charging at home is ok if you have a driveway or such outside your front door as most people are not fortunate enough to have this then the market for this type of car will be inversely proportional to the type of property a person lives in (sadly)
I actually went into loads of detail about all this while I was filming but cut it out as the video was getting too long! I agree completely. In the UK there are a lot more driveways than in other European countries where so many people live in apartments they would never consider an EV until they have convenient, fast, charging nearby. (I’ve had this conversation with my Italian relations).
Most Australians have ideal homes for this. Double garages with multiple power outlets and solar roof arrays are commonplace. Including me. However we cannot buy EVs here.
Maaan your wheel on wrong side...bro we can fix it for you I have sawzall
18 - 20 months delivery now on these
Kia - Leeds
Kia - Bradford
Really?! That’s just ridiculous. The new Soul may be a better bet then (if you like the shape?)
Too small. I’m in no rush so that time scale is fine.
I contacted KIA UK today to find out about the possible upgrades.
They’re being announced around September and it sounds like KIA may tweak the price to also.
Really bad. Longer than that in Australia I suspect. Hopefully some of these EVs will get here in a year or two.
otleybull Sorry you guys have to wait so long over in the UK. In Everett Washington USA, Performance Kia has several dozen available on the lot. They have a sale going on also so that the extra premium version is around 40 to 42,000 US. Then the federal tax rebate of $7500 the following year. I’ve had mine for just a month and it works like a dream. Real range almost 300 miles.
Rain sensing wipers - my car is over 14yrs. old and has it.
Auto dimming mirrors - what a useless attempt at replacing a tilting mirror. I hate the tech. I am disappointed that the eNiro has a dimming rear view mirror. The following headlights need to be at a particular distance and height. Otherwise the tech doesn’t work/respond. Then if the following vehicle increases or closes the distance, it ceases to work and bam... you’re blinded.
Range - 240ish miles is my limit. Concentration starts to go over that. Plus a stretch of the legs and a change of position is needed after a few hours driving.
Steering wheel stitching - I test drove an eNiro over 3hrs. And a separate 1hr. and found the stitching very rough. To the point that it blistered my thumbs.
Ha-ha... Why did you grip on the steering wheel that much?
I think people are quite right to be skeptical about the practicality of any EV at the moment if you intend to use it for long trips. If you could guarantee to be able to get onto a charger at Motorway Services, or have the range to skip on to the next one then it would be fine. However, the infrastructure simply isn't good enough to make that certain. That's a huge problem that can extend journey times or leave you stranded and that's simply not an acceptable alternative to an IC engined car. Sure, these problems are getting less each year, but it's still going to be some time before being certain of getting a charge is as sure as getting a tank full of Petrol or Diesel.
I fully intend to get one of these in due course, but my next car is still going to be Petrol driven because of these problems.
The reason why people don't want them is that they are expensive, they don't want to change from the car brand and model they use today, they live somewhere where there are cold winters (I live not far from the arctic circle) and much snow. Maybe they can't charge at home. The E-Niro still have about half the range of many diesel and gasoline cars have and you can't bring extra "fuel" with you like you can do with a "normal" car.
Then we have the insurance that will most likely be higher. And if the car burns (It happens a lot in Sweden. In some places cars burns every night) they can burn for up to 48 hours. That is not great for the environment.
Sure. Some people can charge at home. Some people don't have to drive far. Some people don't have to drive in snow with the heating at max because it is -40C/F outside. Some people also have access to a garage where they can park their car.
For them an electric car might be a good choice.
When you can charge the car in a few minutes, there are charging stations at every fuel station and you gan drive 1000km on one charge, then there wouldn't really be a trade down to get an EV for many of us.
I am so tired of standing in queue at the fuel stations, waiting for farmers to fill up 400 liters of diesel and making a mess everywhere. For that reason alone I would like to trade my car for an EV... but then I remember that I live in northern Sweden and that 100km is like a rocks throw up here and I continue to check for future EV's that are less like toys and more like the cars we already have today.
Yes. Bring on the fanboyish hate. Do it.
Every time watch one of these ev vids the person charging buys a drink and a snack ,,how cheap are ev to Run!!!!!!
1/4 the price of petrol.
Get a proper phone. I would love an electric car and I do like the Niro but I can't afford one yet.
Thanks
Oh, this is a lease (PCP)? You didnt buy it out-right? Niggles for me? I think the charge port caps with dangling wires look cheap and flimsy... I wish they used proper caps with hinges like Nissan LEAF or Ampera-E...
@andrew le. I agree the charge port socket covers just dangle. The Kona is a little better as it has a dock the type 2 cover.
That’s right, it’s a lease for two years.
You know, after I made this video I’ve had so many other little issues I’ve thought of! I enjoy driving it so much I just forget these things when the camera’s on. I’ll do a separate video about the other niggles but you’re absolutely right about the tacky charge port. Also, no forward-facing camera which I loved in my Leaf (and relied on when parking).
@@MrEV Or 360-camera view on LEAF, and Ampera-E has.. but seems no other EV has that... I'm waiting for the right conditions to get Kia Niro EV soon...
I agree the charge port is tacky - not even a s good as an e soul. No doors over the charger ports and no waterproof seal on the door itself. Another gripe of mine is that when the door is open and the vehicle is charging I keep expecting someone to walk blindly past the car (or try and squeeze past ) and knock off the door itself.
@@a6rrw Exactly.. that charge door is so LARGE.. it attracts attention from people walking by and they'll "poke around" the car.. I dont like that... and the door and its hinge is plastic, so seems to be easy to break if someone walks by and brushes it and it opens so wide and in out... geez... dont know why they couldhnt have stuck with that old Kia Soul EV door that slides to the left, so out-of-the way...
Because a lot of people don't have a home where they can charge an EV, how many in London can charge the car at home!!!
Definitely - and the same is true in somewhere like Italy where the vast majority have apartments. What I would say is that the large battery in the e-Niro makes it less of an issue as you don’t need to charge as frequently as most EVs. Still, you’d probably need to stop and charge somewhere for an hour every couple of weeks so not ideal! Doable though.
Infrastructure certainly needs more improvement to make EVs suitable for more people.
@@MrEV I am a member of Sussex EV's and several of our members don't have home charging, in Brighton we have a few destination chargers in the street and all the carparks have them (many offering free charging). There is one rapid in Brighton and three just outside. I have off street parking but most of the time I charge when I am out, in fact, yesterday I charged mine at home for the first time in two weeks, it's doable especially in London
I think I’d have lost patience trying to find the time to charge elsewhere in my old 24kWh LEAF. Easily doable in the larger capacity cars though. We still need better charging infrastructure although if anywhere can do it, it’s Brighton - wonderfully progressive you are down there!
Is it me or does every one want buttons for everything , normal cars have no handbrakes anymore , no spare wheels , no CD players
Whats a CD can't remember the last time I saw a car with a CD player. I have my entire music collection on a USB stick that plugs into the dash
Erm.
I can see the argument for EV vehicles but I can also see the argument against them. Especially here in the United States. For several reasons, EV's are not going to be taking over anytime soon. First off is lack of infastructure to support the charging of EV vehicles. Not just Charging stations but the energy that would be needed to supply those charging stations, especially during the summer in areas of the Country where rolling blackouts already occur on a sometimes daily basis. Adding thousands, or even tens of thousands of EV Vehicles charging would cause the grid to fail. Second is that people such as myself, and those around my age or older, many of us if not most of us were brought up loving certain cars. These were iconic cars or even trucks with big, powerful engines. Even if we didn't personally own those cars then, we still like our powerful gas engines of today, and yesterday. The Mustangs, The Camaros the Hemi Engines, the Chevy Small Blocks and Big Blocks, the 350s, the 351 Windsor, the 289, etc. Much of America still has a passion for the gas engine. Now, with that being said, my wife now owns a Kia Niro Hybrid. They don't make the EV's available in many of the States at this point. The closest we can buy one is California and I HATE that state and refuse to buy anything from there. That's another reason we will be sticking with Gas engines, and/or hybrids. When it comes to Teslas, they still have a long way to go before they really make a big dent in the overall US Car market. The big reason I see now is the lack of care after you buy one. I have watched enough TH-cam Channels from Tesla owners to know that if you get into even a minor fender bender or need repairs to your Tesla for any reason you might as well be driving a Jaguar, BMW, SAAB or an Alfa Romeo. Parts are very hard to get and can take a month or more even for something as simple as a lug nut. That's INSANE! Americans won't stand for that, we aren't that patient. When it comes to long trips across country, I can usually go the full length of my car's range (I drive a 2015 Chrysler 200C AWD with the 3.6L V6) The range varies depending on my driving but is over 400 miles per tank. Then depending on how much of a rush I am in, or how close my hotel is, I may just fill up my gas tank and empty my bladder and be on my way. 10-15 minutes tops. I would drive over 750 miles in a day and have done as much as 1,000 miles in a day way back in the 1980's. Having to take the time to fully charge an EV vehicle at this point for a trip like that just wouldn't work. Too many stops for too long. Maybe once the battery technology catches up and the range is extended beyond 500 miles consistently it will be much more attractive to mainstream Americans.
Thanks very much for your comment; that’s really interesting. I hear what you’re saying about loving all those iconic cars: my dream was always to drive a Mustang across the States. In the end we did it but in some quite soul-less Nissan Sentra (my wife didn’t fancy the Mustang).
Certainly trips of the length you mention (750 to 1000 miles in a day) would be very painful right now, even in a Tesla.
Anyway, it’s an exciting time for cars I think. EVs (well, Teslas anyway) will be at 400 miles by the end of the year and in another couple of years charge times will be something like 15 minutes which will be more viable for most people.
Interesting about blackouts. They should be installing far more solar whenever they add a charging station to make it less reliant on the grid. Especially as solar is so cheap.
For the moment, an EV as a second car is pretty sensible for those that can do it.
Thanks again!
ehhm…ehhm…ehhm.
Andrew, cut your hair. At least on the sides. It will make you much better looking. You're a good looking dude now, but the hair has to go.
Best comment ever.
Kia and Hyundai are dead to me. RIP
Why? Due to their rubbishness building enough Kona and e-Niro?