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The Kia Niro is a small, crossover-like hybrid with good rider room for a small vehicle, and overall mileage well into the 40s. There are excellent commuter assists on the top two trim lines. Fit and finish are first-charge per unit. Cars like this and Niro's shut cousin, the Hyundai Ioniq, give buyers good choices across the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime, and one more with the plug-in hybrid Niro arriving this calendar month.

The Niro is not a Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, or Mazda CX-v analog only with a hybrid drivetrain. It'due south almost a foot shorter, the driver sits lower (but college than in a sedan), all-bike-drive is not available, and the drivetrain is not as polished.

Fun to Bulldoze Once Yous Put Information technology in Sport Mode

The Niro drivetrain outputs 139 hp — 104-hp engine and 43-hp electric motor combined — through a double-clutch automated transmission. On startup it defaults to Eco style. Acceleration is leisurely. Occasionally starting up from a stop, I noted a piddling surging later on stepping on the throttle and when the engine kicked in to heave the electric motor. This is non a Niro-0nly issue amidst hybrids. Switching the car to Sport helps smooth out the dispatch, albeit at some small price to fuel economy; in Sport, the motor functions more than like an electric turbocharger. Once the car is going, you're difficult-pressed to tell it'south a hybrid. Over time, yous'll wish the Niro had a middle mode, Normal.

Braking was smooth in testing; the pedal feel on another hybrids changes as the automobile blends friction and regenerative braking. There is, however, no style to maximize regenerative braking. Nissan on its latest Leaf EV offers a regen manner so powerful you tin often brake to a stop by lifting off the throttle.

If the drivetrain has its pros and cons, the ride, handling, and noise insulation are quite adept. Driving the Touring with low-profile tires, dissonance from harsher bumps did infiltrate the cabin. On a snowy 24-hour interval, I establish the traction to exist acceptable on level ground, problematic climbing hills. If you in a snowy area, consider winter tires if yous actually have to go someplace.

4 Trim Lines, Different MPG ratings

The Kia Niro has iv trim lines (model variants):

Niro FE, $24,190 including $940 shipping. The FE'due south fuel economy gets a Niro-best 52 mpg city, 49 mpg highway, and 50 mpg combined. It includes the aging Kia UVO infotainment system, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay. There are no options; only dealer accessories. The tires for the Atomic number 26, Sixty, and ES are 205/60R16.

Niro LX, $24,490. Fuel economy is 51/46/49 mpg. The LE includes roof rails, LED rear lamps, and a smart key with pushbutton start. The Advanced Technology Package, $1,450, provides adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist arrangement, democratic emergency braking with pedestrian protection, fog lamps, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Niro EX, $26,990. Fuel economy is 51/46/49, the same as the 60. The EX includes LED daytime running lights and fog lights, cloth/leather-trimmed seat, heated front seats, and heated side mirrors. It includes cloth/leather seats, heated front seats and outside mirrors, and LED daytime running lights and fog lights. The EX Advanced Technology Package, $1,950, has adaptive cruise command, lane go along help, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian protection, and a more adaptable driver'south seat. The Touring Graphite Edition, $2,400, has graphite pigment, 18-inch wheels with 225/45R18 tires, an 8-inch UVO brandish with navigation, premium Harman/Kardon audio with eight speakers plus a subwoofer, and an adaptable driver's seat. The EX Premium Package, $5,300, combines the Advance and Touring packages and adds xenon headlamps, sunroof, front end and rear sonar, ventilated front seats, a heated steering cycle, a wireless phone charger, a 110-volt AC socket, and some trim differentiators versus the LX.

Niro Touring, $32,880, with 46/forty/43 mpg. The Touring has 18-inch alloy wheels, leather seat trim, a heated steering bike, and ventilated front seats. It also rolls in all of what's optional on the EX, including the small-sidewall 45-serial tires that are susceptible to potholes and meliorate handling. The extra weight cuts into fuel efficiency. In a calendar week of driving the Touring model I averaged 44 mpg in cold and occasionally snowy weather.

Safety Features

Here's a rundown of driver assists and safety features for the Atomic number 26, LC, EX and Touring. That'due south in add-on to at present-standard equipment on all cars such as rear camera, automated stability control, anti-lock brakes, and lots of airbags.

Adaptive prowl control

Standard: Touring. Optional: LX, EX

Blind spot detection with lane change assist

Standard: EX,  Touring

Lane continue aid

Standard: Touring. Optional: Threescore, EX

Democratic emergency braking with pedestrian detection

Standard: Touring. Optional:  Sixty, EX

Forwards standoff warning

Standard:  Touring. Optional: Sixty, EX

Rear cross traffic alert

Standard: EX, Touring

Translation: If yous desire the fullest array of safety features, y'all want the top-of-the-line Niro Touring. The EX plus the $1,950 Advanced Technology Packet also does it, and may be preferable because the tires are more than damage-resistant. You practice requite upward the larger 8-inch LCD, better audio, and built-in navigation, which is showing its historic period and can exist substituted by Android Auto or (less acceptably) Apple CarPlay maps.

Identify the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid by its reworked grille, hybrid-blue accents, and the charge port in the left fender.

Niro Plug-In Hybrid Added

Niro PHEV eco screen.

Kia has added the Niro Plug-In Hybrid (not tested) in three trim lines, omitting the entry Atomic number 26 line. An 8.nine-kWh lithium-ion battery replaces the hybrid's 1.56-kWh pack and provides a rated 26 miles on bombardment alone and an EPA rated 105 MPGe, combining EV and combustion-engine modes. Gas-simply mileage is similar to the hybrid: 48 mpg metropolis, 44 high, 46 combined. Start with a full bombardment and tank of gas, and you lot tin drive 560 miles, Kia says.

To offset the weight of the larger battery pack, Kia turned to aluminum for some of the parts: hood, tailgate, suspension elements, and brake calipers. To help find charging stations, the UVO eco telematics system is integrated. Information technology too lets you monitor state of charge, set charge times to piece of work with off-peak rates, and pre-estrus the cabin and steering cycle and turn on defrosters using current from the charger, not the bombardment. List prices (with aircraft) are: Lx, $28,840; EX, $32,440; and Premium (instead of Touring), $35,440.

Back seat room is quite expert, especially for a machine just 171.5 inches long, meaning information technology'due south a subcompact motorcar. The 1.6-kWh lithium ion (not NiMH) battery sits under the seat.

Should You Buy?

Because information technology's well-proportioned, you don't realize the Niro is just 171.5 inches long, only 2 inches more than the Honda 60 minutes-V subcompact and 9 inches shorter than the Honda CR-V. Others may not detect it'due south a hybrid. It's small, and most of the smallness is in the cargo bay, because the rear seat is fine for nigh passengers for all but full-day drives. The Niro's cargo capacity behind the 2nd seat is 19.2 cubic feet versus the Hour-V's 23.seven cubic feet (and the CR-Five's 39.2 cubic feet). The total interior volume is nearly the same: 100.9 cubic feet for the Niro, 100.1 for the Hr-V.

The subcompact crossover/railroad vehicle hybrid competitors are the Toyota Prius V and the Ford C-Max Energi. New in 2011 and refreshed in 2015, the Prius V is 10 inches longer and roomier inside. Room and ride comfort are good; Toyota put less emphasis on the fun-to-drive factor. The C-Max Energi comes in hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. It's 2 inches longer than the Niro. Other testers take noted the Energi falls short of its EPA ratings, so much so some gasoline-engine-only cars practice as well or better on efficiency. Time is running out on this one: After five years, the C-Max family unit hasn't caught on, in part because owners weren't getting the economy figures cited in the testing Ford does for the EPA ratings. Production on C-Max Energi ended in Nov, though cars are withal available; production of C-Max Hybrid ends sometime this year, Ford says.

Amongst these three, the Niro has the upper mitt. It'south well-priced and is well built; information technology won a J.D. Power award for initial quality. In its kickoff full year on the market place, the Niro came out alee on sales: 27,237 for the Kia, xviii,390 for the C-Max hybrid and plug-in combined, and 9,680 for the Prius 5. Were it considered simply a subcompact crossover, Niro Hybrid would exist No. vii in sales, where the peak iii, each with nearly 100,000 sales terminal year, were the Subaru CrossTrek, Jeep Renegade, and Honda Hr-V.

If you lot're a sedan person, expect at the Hyundai Ioniq, which has a like drivetrain as Kia's, with hybrid, PHEV and battery versions.