[Dave]

Hi all, I've had my '18 EX hybrid for a little over three months now, since the first week of May. From the couple of months prior to purchase, when I'd settled on it as my next vehicle, until now I have yet to see another Niro on the road here in the Houston, TX area (I live in the area SE of town, about halfway between downtowns Houston & Galveston). I've seen them only at a Kia dealer.

The car I had before the Niro was an '09 Volvo XC60. Its first year in the US was 2008, so it was a similar situation to now, where I'm in a model in only its second year in this country. At first I rarely saw those too, but it didn't take long at all before they became a not-uncommon sighting. But nothing so far on another Niro. What about you?

 

[caryni2q]

My wife and I have only seen 1 other Niro each in the 6 months and 8,000 miles I've owned this one.

 

[yticolev]

I've seen twice as many Niros as Ioniqs, in proportion to their relative sales in the US. Both fairly rare. Now that someone a couple blocks from me has bought an Ioniq, I'll be seeing that a lot. I'm the only Niro owner in my small town of 4,000, but I see them in the closest nearby city.

 

[olimpiaKIA]

I see them fairly often in my area (maybe two or three a week which is not bad considering it's a fairly new car out there).

 

[FiddlingNiro]

I've seen a couple in the 2+ months I've had mine. Sometimes I do a double-take when I see a Sportage but after a moment I spot the differences.

 

[Sstr Maria]

I had to go out of state to get my 2018 Niro PHEV. There are not too many around - and that's why I'm able to get a state rebate on the EV battery and an IRS tax credit of ~$4500.

 

[FlNiro]

I've seen a couple in the 2+ months I've had mine. Sometimes I do a double-take when I see a Sportage but after a moment I spot the differences.

I wonder if that's the reason people don't think they see many Niro's? The Niro does look like a lot of other SUV's at first glance, and when your driving you only get a quick look sometimes. Conversely when you see a Prius there's no mistaking that it's a Prius.

 

[jmurphEV]

I've only seen 2 since we bought our PHEV in April. Not surprising, Southern Maryland is not exactly hybrid country. Big diesel pickups? Yeah.
They see me rollin' (past the gas station). They hatin'. >

 

[morestuff]

I have one of each (Niro PHEV and a 2500 diesel pickup) and love both.

Different purposes, but each does its job well.

 

[Dave]

Here in Texas, hybrids are not super popular either-- definitely truck country. Re: the Sportage, agreed that they're similar but there are a couple of features one can quickly spot to tell them apart, such as the running-light grilles on the nose of the Sportage and those matte-black accent panels on the doors. I look for the latter as my telltale for a Niro.

 

[yticolev]

To my eye, the Sportage has a significantly different shape than the Niro. What catches my attention are the Mazda 3 wagons, and the Lexus CT200 and one other I cannot think of. When I see one of those, I think very close shape to the Niro, but better looking. We do own a very bland looking car, but anything looks far better inside and out than the current Prius! I'm OK with bland.

 

[fredct]

In the almost 11 months I’ve had mine here in Northern NJ, I think I’ve seen three others, plus one just before I bought it.
One part
Of the reason is it’s a fairly new model, only 1.5 years of cars out there vs 10 or 20 for some cars. I’ve realized I’ve been seeing a lot more HR-Vs on the road lately as their “supply” builds up (new in 2016).
When Niros have been selling for several years, you’ll see more. Probably not a lot still though ?

 

[yticolev]

Hyundai/Kia have a battery supply problem. This is particularly noticeable in a shortage of the larger battery BEV and PHEV models. It has been reported that Toshiba, their battery supplier, is going to be able to produce significantly more batteries by the end of this year. That may ramp up supply, dealers pushing them, and discounting. Batteries also get cheaper every year, and notably, Toshiba is producing a newer generation of batteries that are more power dense (meaning lighter for a given capacity) and have some other advantages. The Kona EV using these batteries have already been released in Europe after some months of sales in Korea.

There should be additional sales for the next few years as Tesla and then Nissan lose the consumer federal tax credits going forward, giving other manufacturers additional pricing advantage.

Some cars really burst on the market, in apparently large supply. The Mustang in 1964, and the PT Cruiser in 2001. You saw them everywhere very quickly. Some credit is due to the ability of domestic manufacturers to ramp up production. Of course, in large part because both were so distinctive and stood out every time you saw them so it appeared they were ubiquitous. By comparison, the Niro (and Ioniq) are practically invisible mainstream designs - on purpose to set them apart from the weird crowd of the Prius and Leaf.

 

[FlNiro]

Hyundai/Kia have a battery supply problem. This is particularly noticeable in a shortage of the larger battery BEV and PHEV models. It has been reported that Toshiba, their battery supplier, is going to be able to produce significantly more batteries by the end of this year. That may ramp up supply, dealers pushing them, and discounting. Batteries also get cheaper every year, and notably, Toshiba is producing a newer generation of batteries that are more power dense (meaning lighter for a given capacity) and have some other advantages. The Kona EV using these batteries have already been released in Europe after some months of sales in Korea.

There should be additional sales for the next few years as Tesla and then Nissan lose the consumer federal tax credits going forward, giving other manufacturers additional pricing advantage.

Some cars really burst on the market, in apparently large supply. The Mustang in 1964, and the PT Cruiser in 2001. You saw them everywhere very quickly. Some credit is due to the ability of domestic manufacturers to ramp up production. Of course, in large part because both were so distinctive and stood out every time you saw them so it appeared they were ubiquitous. By comparison, the Niro (and Ioniq) are practically invisible mainstream designs - on purpose to set them apart from the weird crowd of the Prius and Leaf.

From what I remember the PT Cruiser was in short supply for awhile.

 

[aRandomUser]

In the almost 11 months I’ve had mine here in Northern NJ, I think I’ve seen three others, plus one just before I bought it.
One part

I'm in northern NJ too, and I regularly see a blue Niro, which was the car that convinced me to look into a Niro! I also saw a red Niro identical to mine the other day, which was the first red Niro I've seen in the wild.

 

[jmurphEV]

I have one of each (Niro PHEV and a 2500 diesel pickup) and love both.

Different purposes, but each does its job well.

Oh definitely, I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 that I use for hauling stuff and wouldn't trade it for anything. With the 5.9L V8 it gets ~14mpg whether it's empty or hauling bags of concrete. I think the only way to improve the mileage would be drop it out of an airplane.

 

[yticolev]

From what I remember the PT Cruiser was in short supply for awhile.

Relative to demand for sure! They did catch up by the end of the model year. I bought one of the last 2001 models in a special order (both the car and sticker said made just for me) and paid list price - most who bought 2001s paid a premium over MRSP - dealers were loving that! 2002s had no dealer premium and discounts of $3,000 or more were commonly advertised. Wished I had waited one more month! But they still sold a ton of 2002s. By 2004 the fad aspect had run its course.

 

[[email protected]]

Rarely seen in the wild

We just got our '18 Niro LX, and in the months leading up to making our decision, we only saw one in the wild. That gave us pause, but we ultimately decided to go for it, as it's rather one of a kind — great gas mileage in a compact SUV style.

So far, so good! We're about to head out on a 1000-mile road trip, and expecting to enjoy it.

 

[FlNiro]

We just got our '18 Niro LX, and in the months leading up to making our decision, we only saw one in the wild. That gave us pause, but we ultimately decided to go for it, as it's rather one of a kind — great gas mileage in a compact SUV style.

So far, so good! We're about to head out on a 1000-mile road trip, and expecting to enjoy it.

Let us know how you make out on your trip. We're going to leave Wed. for a trip, Florida to Pa. and back to see our kids. I hope it does as well as our Prius did on long trips.

 

[platinumgraphiteedition]

While researching the car a few months ago, we still never saw any on the road except twice. Now we see other Niros 2-3 times a week.