The 2018 Niro is neither gorgeous nor homely, speedy nor tepid, upscale nor cheap.
What it is is an “it’ll get you where you’re going” ride and there’s nothing wrong with that, though we spent an entire week in it and still couldn’t find it in parking lots amongst its brethren Hondas and Hyundais. The Niro’s only real defining physical characteristic is its distinctive feminine-hourglass-figure hood carves.The Niro is available in five trims beginning with the most fuel-efficient FE trim, with features added as you move up to the LX, EX, Touring Graphite Edition and Touring trims. Its website lists prices starting at $23,340; our tester, the EX Premium, starts at $34,500.
It’s classified as a compact SUV but it more resembles a wagon, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, except for that most SUVs and crossovers provide A) Extra ground clearance and B) all-wheel-drive capability for either bad weather or limited off-roading. The Niro offers neither. Our tester was powered by a 1.6 litre 4-cylinder engine with 60 HP electric motor powered by an 8.9 kWh Lithium Polymet Battery. It can travel 26 miles on all-electric range and its charging mechanism is simple – just plug in at a station, hang around a bit and soon you’re ready to roll.
Its pushbutton ignition is less simple. You turn it off and – wait, it’s still on. Or is it? Why am I getting beeped at? Push the button again. Wait, it’s on alternator. May I please turn my car off and get out and see to my business? Not always. One other head-scratcher is the car’s insistence on locking itself if you leave it alone for 30 seconds. (We timed it.) Say you’re trying to load up for a road trip and you live in a rural neighborhood where it’s almost assured no one will steal your car. Well, if you unlock your Niro and, say, leave the keys in your coat in the living room, you’ll find your car locked when you go outside to put stuff in the trunk. And yet! When you approach the locked car with your keys on you, its side mirrors open – but the car doesn’t unlock. It was at this point we nicknamed it the Kia WTF.
Another bizarre experience during our test occurred at night; apparently the Niro’s lights, when dimmed, are still so bright that cars coming in the opposite direction kept flashing their brights at us, or aggressively turning on their brights. After flashing back dozens of times to assure the other drivers that no, we weren’t clueless or sight-impaired, it got real old quickly.
Gripes over, the Niro has much going for it if you simply must have a new car with great mileage and wish to pay under $40,000. Loaded it comes in at around $35K, and if you opt for the LX or EX or Touring trims, you get a fair amount of goodies like a Harkam Kardon Premium audio system, a nav sys with an 8-inch touch screen and rear camera that lowers your music as though you can’t look behind you and listen to music at the same time, as well as an idle stop-and-go system. One of the Niro’s main attributes is it doesn’t scream “Hybrid!” to the world in its badging; it’s the anti-smug hybrid.
And, of course, its 50 MPH-or-thereabouts mileage.
