KIA NIRO

Compact crossover gains some much-needed style and attitude for its second generation

- ILLYA VERPRAET

TESTED 22.4.22, FRANKFURT, GERMANY ON SALE AUTUMN PRICE £33,245

This is the second generation of the Kia Niro, a car that’s nowhere near as revolutionary as the Kia EV6 but arguably more important for the Korean brand, being its second-best- seller after the Sportage.

With the first Niro, Kia beat most of its rivals to the wildly popular segment of compact crossovers, and it did so with reasonably priced hybrid options and an electric one with a long range.

And that highlights something quite unusual about the Niro: it’s available as a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and an EV. Accommodating both combustion engines and big batteries on the same platform can lead to an unhappy compromise, but the outgoing Niro managed to be both a convincing hybrid and an impressive EV when it came out.

Today, though, Kia has more competition to be worried about. The Toyota C-HR, Honda HR-V and Renault Arkana all want a slice of the hybrid crossover pie. And although the electric Niro can sleep slightly easier for the time being, there are hordes of new rivals on the horizon.

The new Niro aims to build on the original one’s success. It sits on an all-new platform (the second-generation K3, also found beneath the Hyundai i30), but it follows much the same recipe as before. The hybrids get a mildly tweaked 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

Electric assistance comes from a 1.32kWh battery and a 43bhp electric motor in the case of the regular hybrid or an 11.1kWh battery and an 83bhp electric motor in the plug-in hybrid.

The fully electric Niro, which now takes the name Niro EV instead of e-Niro, uses a 64.8kWh battery – the same as before – for a range of roughly 290 miles.