Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid 2022 review review

Nor does it require to. Confident, it is bought a Activity method that brings heavier steering, wakes the petrol motor and turns the steering-wheel-mounted paddles (which you more typically use to toggle via the brake regen modes) into gearshift paddles. But even with that in motion, the steering even now feels really anodyne – properly weighted and predictable for everyday driving, but under no circumstances engaging.

The Niro PHEV is snug and calm, while, which is far a lot more pertinent to its likely use. Our superior-spec exam car arrived on 18in alloy wheels that deliver a a bit chatty trip all around town, but it’s never ever intrusive more than enough to bother you, and it settles properly at larger speeds.

In the end, the Niro PHEV is at its finest when you are at a continuous gait, taking pleasure in the assured, quick-heading development. It is not a vehicle you obtain for its dynamic effervescence, surely, but it is a person that you can locate fulfillment in driving – specially when you’re making the most of the hushed, seamless ebb and circulation of EV mode. With any luck ,, that’ll be a lot more frequently than not, as we noticed a authentic-earth variety of around 30 miles around a varied route that incorporated a stint of motorway driving.

There has been a major improvement inside of the Niro PHEV, also, wherever you get several of the styling cues and tech functions from the Kia EV6, which includes the twin screens set into a one show (featuring a smaller, 8.0in touchscreen on the basic 2-trim product and a 10.0in affair on all the other individuals). An array of contact-sensitive shortcut buttons let you to swap among either air-con controls or infotainment shortcuts, which is a neat trick.

Additional than that, the new Niro has grown in most dimensions more than its predecessor. It now actions 4.42m extended and also has slimmer, EV6-fashion front seats, leaving a certainly remarkable amount of money of rear passenger house that’s correct up there with larger SUV alternatives like the Ford Kuga. The PHEV does eliminate the underfloor boot place of the other Niro styles, but its 348 litres of baggage ability (when compared with 451 in the whole hybrid and 475 in the EV) requires the kind of a wonderful, squared-off boot that’ll household a chunky buggy or a sizeable pet dog with relative relieve. It will now tow up to 1300kg as effectively.

The larger issue may well be that the Niro is no more time very the deal it as soon as was. For the price of the mid-spec 3 (which gets keyless entry and heated seats so is most likely to be a popular just one for retail consumers), you could have a superior-spec Skoda Octavia iV, which has a significantly greater boot and expenditures considerably less. Every month PCP expenses do seem excellent on the Niro, however, with Kia anticipating the Niro PHEV to start at all over £360 for every month with a 10% deposit, so it promises to be definitely competitive on that critical entrance.