Kia e Niro car of the year

Kia e Niro car of the year
STRANGE TO THINK that only last year Kia was being honored with one of our Game Changer awards, but for a very different kind of car.

In halo-model GT-S form, it would n’t be much of an exaggeration to say the 365bhp, rear-driven, twin-turbocharged Stinger couldn’t be more of an antithesis to this year ’s recipient if it tried.
The Kia e-Niro does not come with a potent V6 engine at its nose. In fact, it doesn’t come with a traditional internal combustion engine at all.

For all intents and purposes, the e -Niro is the Korean manufacture r’s first purpose-built electric vehicle, in that it’s based on a platform designed to house electric, plug-in and hybrid powertrains right from the get-go. In this day and age, of course, electric vehicles aren’t exactly new, and the e-Niro isn’t being recognized as one of 2019’s game changers simply because it’s the first purpose-built vehicle of its kind from Kia (the Soul EV was an adaptation of an existing model, remember).

Instead, the e-Niro earns its stripes because of the disruptive effect it ’s had on the wider EV landscape as a whole. Here is an EV that costs less than £35,000 but, thanks to the inclusion of its 64kWh battery pack, will comfortably travel around 230 miles on a single charge. That’s the sort of range that, just a few years ago, only cars with a Tesla badge and a price tag twice as high could offer.

 In its simplest sense, then, the e-Niro represents a continuation – and arguably a more drastic one at that – of the process of EV democratization that saw the Nissan Leaf awarded a Game Changer award last year. Among other things, it was the Leaf ’s affordable price and 170-mile real-world range that saw it get the nod in 2018. That thee -Niro has bettered that by 60 miles goes to show how quickly the medium has progressed over the space of just 12 months. That genre-bending range-to affordability ratio isn’t the only reason why the e-Niro is being recognized as one of our Game Changers for 2019, though. Just as important is that Kia has packaged it so cleverly – in terms of both the practicality on offer and the manner in which it behaves out on the road.

The Hyundai Kona Electric might make use of similar parts and provide a similar range for similar money, but it’s not as spacious as the Kia and neither does it ride nor handle with quite the same levels of composure, grip or stability it y. It would seem, then, that in 2019 the reasons against going electric are quickly diminishing. That the e-Niro has sold out for the foreseeable future suggests the car-buying public might think the same. SD
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The Kia Niro energy unit could be a sensible reminder of however so much the electrical vehicle (EV) has returned. From humble AC Propulsion conversions of descendent econoboxes to Tesla then-Motors’ wild Roadster to the Model three and Kia Niro energy unit, whole firms have returned and gone, and therefore the trade has modified massively.

Kia these days presents a sub-$38,000 EV, that comes all the way down to the low $30K vary when federal incentives (if they apply to you). The Niro energy unit comes with several custom options that were the most well-liked new features on the market shortly past, together with my favorite wireless mobile phone charger.

Some of the various things that caught my eyes once reviewing the Niro energy unit were the standard of the automobile and therefore the work and end. A decade past, EVs were in haste place along. They weren’t acknowledged for his or her quality. Today’s Kia Niro energy unit or Hyundai Kona energy unit, though, build owning associate energy unit a no brainer. many folks travel back and forth to figure during a town might drive either automobile the whole week and recharge on weekends.

Kia Niro energy unit Wins standard Mechanic Award
As so much as standard Mechanics selecting the Kia Niro energy unit for its award, Ezra Dyer, the automotive editor at standard Mechanics, had the subsequent to say:

“We picked the Niro energy unit for the automobile of the Year as a result of it’s an electric car that might be appealing whether or not it wasn’t electric. however it's electrical, and it delivers the standard energy unit advantages while not a lot of within the approach of energy unit sacrifices. It’s sleek, fast and quiet, with lots of vary and inexpensive worth. The Niro energy unit appears like a preview of the close to future once cars like this are the norm. however, immediately it’s the exception.”

Michael Cole, COO and govt VP at Kia, added:

“We’re excited by this award. once a publication with the storied name of standard Mechanics selects your vehicle over the competition, it’s a big event. We’re happy with the Niro energy unit and its place in our fleet of all-electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles At Kia we attempt to produce the simplest vehicles doable and this reward validates our efforts.”