THE AMAZING, FANTASTIC, TOTALLY
NORMAL ELECTRIC CAR.38 May 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com KIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY CRAIG CAMERON OLSEN
THERE ARE TWO KINDS of purpose-built electric cars: sexy, quick,
and expensive (Teslas, Jaguar I-Pace) or virtue-signaling affordable
tall wagons (Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Bolt). In either case, there’s an element
of “Hey, look at me! I’m driving an electric car!” The Kia Niro EV—and its
Hyundai cousin, the Kona Electric—are the first long-range electric cars
that are gloriously, resolutely normal. In fact, there are gas-powered ver-
sions, too. Those ones barely look any different. But
their existence serves to highlight the superiority
of the electric versions. No noise. No oil changes.
No gas stations. Instant torque and a lot of it. Why
would you want anything else?
Well, maybe because you take a lot of road trips. So
to put the Niro EV to a challenge, I decide to pick one
up in Washington, D.C., and drive it 345 miles back to
North Carolina. With the DC fast-charger
infrastructure growing by the day, the
question isn’t whether you can make this
kind of trip but where you want to stop.
The Niro EV is an agreeable road-trip
car. Absent underhood explosions and
shifting of gears, the cabin is hushed and
serene. Unless you’re a chronic tailgater,
you hardly ever need to hit the brakes,
because lifting the accelerator causes the
motor to turn into a generator, recharg-
ing the battery while it slows the car. The only annoyance is that I have to
program the route on my phone, because—unlike a Leaf—the Niro’s nav-
igation system doesn’t automatically route you to charging stops. In fact,
you can tell that the infotainment system is transplanted from gas-powered
cars, because if you sit there with the accessories on, a message pops up that
reads, “Battery discharge warning! Please use the system with the engine
running.” Take it easy, Niro. There is no engine. (I drove a preproduction
car, and Kia says production models will fix those issues.)
And there’s plenty of battery. After a couple hours of driving, I glide up
to an array of 150-kilowatt Electrify America chargers, on the edge of aWalmart parking lot, with
range to spare.
These chargers are owned
by Volkswagen, which is
laying the groundwork for
its own onslaught of elec-
tric vehicles. And unlike
Tesla, VW is happy to col-
lect money from anyone who
wants to use its chargers, which use a standard SAE combo
cable. So I plug in and set off through a strip-mall waste-
land to grab some lunch.
After a little more than an hour, I’m back on the road
$25.35 poorer and with a 95 percent charge. A more eco-
nomical strategy would’ve been
to stop at an 80 percent charge,
but I’m 173 miles from home. A
little cushion doesn’t hurt.
Now that I’m confident I
can squander a few electrons,
I floor the accelerator and find
that 291 lb-ft of torque will def-
initely torment the front tires.
The Niro’s traction control has
its work cut out for it off the
line, but once you’re moving
you get the full monty. It’s great fun, warping
quietly away from stoplights. The Niro EV has
two personalities, really: silent and aloof lux-
ury cruiser at steady speeds, and hot hatch
when you go full throttle.
About six hours after I set off, I pull into
my driveway, plug into my home charger, and
think, That was easy. And it was. The Niro is a handsome
little crossover that’ll disappear in traffic. It’s affordable.
It’s got plent y of range. In shor t, the Niro EV doesn’t ask for
sacrifices. And that’s exactly the kind of car that’s going
to set off a mass movement to electric vehicles. Because
if you didn’t have to pay a fortune or live on the fashion
fringe, didn’t have to constantly sweat that range num-
ber, why wouldn’t you get an EV? That’s the question that
the Niro EV forces you to consider. Because it’s just a reg-
ular car, but so much better.PRICE
$30,000
(est.) after tax credit
RANGE
239 miles
POWER
201 hp, 291 lb-ft
of torque
AVAI LABLE I N
13 states, so far. But you
can order a similar
Hyundai Kona in any state.