This year’s Busan Motor Show hosted an all-new and quite interesting 2019 Kia Niro EV. The electric crossover has been introduced and detailed, so we know pretty much everything about it. The compact isn’t exactly as we’ve expected, but the figures are close. Though, the carmaker’s estimated electric driving range of 280 miles on a single charge will likely fall down after EPA get done the measurement.
About The Powertrain
Anyway, according to Kia, the most potent, so-to-say, 2019 Niro EV will use a 64-kWh battery which will, as they state, make the crossover drive on a single charge around 280 miles. The base model will, on the other hand, use a 39.2-kWh unit. This will according to the manufacturer limit the crossover to 150 miles of drive range. The vehicle will use a single electric motor mounted in the front axle, which will deliver around 204 horsepower irrespective of the battery choice. Also, Kia will offer a 100kWh fast charger that will be able to fill up the larger battery up to 80 percent in just 54 minutes. The 2019 Kia Niro EV won’t be the fastest SUV we know, but the estimated 0-60mph sprint of 7.8 seconds seems okay.
Bad and Good
Don’t get us wrong, but we think that Kia made a large mistake with the exterior design. There’s nothing wrong with the compact crossover we see here, but just take a look on the concept version that was unveiled at January’s 2018 Consumer Electronics Show and you will see what’s the problem here. The concept Niro looks better, don’t you think? Inside, on the other hand, the EV version of the SUV appears to be better than the non-electric model. That’s because the carmaker tweaked the dash with light blue accents and also thanks to a simpler drive selector with a rotary controller design. Plus, there is a new 7.0-inch screen in the instrument cluster.
Price Info
The Korean car automaker hasn’t released any pricing information so far. However, we think that the electric compact crossover is going to cost as much as the closest rivals, so expect to be priced somewhere around $37K.
