[efbaxter]

I bought my Niro EX in June and for the summer averaged 45-58 mpg on most trips (as measured by the digital screen when the engine is turned off). The most common trip is my 5 mile commute to work. Since October and 40 degree weather i?ve seen a significant drop in mileage. My trips now average only 35-45 mpg. I?ve read that a small decrease is normal for hybrids, but nothing like this.

The only change in settings I can think of is that I drive without AC, but I assumed this would only help mileage. I can?t think of any accidents or bumps. Tires could be low, but the digital warning for that hasn?t come on. Any advice? -Ned

 

[Scrutch76]

I bought my LX the last part of March and my total average over 8000 miles has been 52.8 over all and that's measured. Southern MN. has been running in the low 30's for the 3 weeks or so. The last tank was 42 mpg and I hate to think what it's going to be at zero or below. I think it has a bad thermostat as driving around town the engine never warms up, so would be running very rich. I called the dealer and he said if the thermostat was bad I would get an engine warning lite coming on? I have about 500 miles to go for the 10K oil change, so will make them check it out then.

 

[Chris]

When they switch to the winter gas blend I always lose about 10% MPG.

 

[tbaleno]

Tires could be low, but the digital warning for that hasn?t come on. Any advice? -Ned

They could be low but not to the point of a warning light. I don't know at which point the warning light turns on but right now my tires are at 42 psi. If they went down to 35 psi I doubt the light would go on but it would have a drastic decrease in mileage. Tire pressure is easy to check as you can go to the diagnostics screen and see what the psi of your tires are.


Also, for us up north we are starting to get frost so the engine has to run to warm up the engine so it can remove the frost (at least I think the engine has to run.) I had to let the car run for about 5 minutes while the windows defrosted. Yesterday my mpg to work was 57, today it was 54. I don't know how this will compare to summer as I just got my car and have never used it in warm temperatures.

 

[Triple Run]

That's a serious MPG drop. I can only think of extra engine warming, though it's still a big drop. I would call and book an appointment with your dealership mechanic.

 

[Warbstow]

A dealer told me the efficiency of the battery charge/discharge goes down when it is cold. I don’t know if he is just blowing smoke but he may be correct. I also have a Toyota Auris hybrid and get 60+ mpg when the temperature is 30+Celsius but struggle to get 50mpg at under 10Celcius.

 

[NirovTDI]

My best mpg has been 52 suburban driving and my worse has been 38 windy highway driving at 72 mph.
I believe the Niro suffers from too small an electric assist motor (not enough torque to manage without the dino assist for any appreciable distance or speed) very disappointing in the design fault. They should swap out all 2017 motors for a 30 percent hike in torque.

 

[Griswald]

My best mpg has been 52 suburban driving and my worse has been 38 windy highway driving at 72 mph.
I believe the Niro suffers from too small an electric assist motor (not enough torque to manage without the dino assist for any appreciable distance or speed) very disappointing in the design fault. They should swap out all 2017 motors for a 30 percent hike in torque.

Yea, thats not going to happen...it took Prius a long tome to realize that the bigger motors made better efficiency, and they are the "king" of hybrid tech. It will probably be the next generation Niro that gets more power and better efficiency.

 

[julien]

low gas milage in cold

I bought my Niro in April and LOVED LOVED it! I was getting 58-60 mpg. Around Nov it started going down (I'm in Chicago area) and this week I've been getting 38 mpg!!! I'm really disappointed...

 

[pthump]

This is my second winter owning my Niro and I saw my normal drop of 3mpg until the battery management update was done. I was averaging about 47-49 and now I am struggling to stay above 40. I've hear a significant difference in the changing of gears and when the engine is running. Something in that update definitely affected my mileage. I drive my car the exact same way since I've purchased it and drive the same routes.

 

[dpblanchard]

This is my second winter owning my Niro and I saw my normal drop of 3mpg until the battery management update was done. I was averaging about 47-49 and now I am struggling to stay above 40. I've hear a significant difference in the changing of gears and when the engine is running. Something in that update definitely affected my mileage. I drive my car the exact same way since I've purchased it and drive the same routes.

I am experiencing the exact same problem! I took mine in for service about 3 months ago. And then over the last two months the mileage has dropped from 52 to 42. I am going to contact the dealership tomorrow, since it appears now that I am not the only person experiencing this.

 

[Roadkill401]

I wish fuelly would let you filter by vehicles close to you. As my Niro is only 2 months old, it's pretty hard to tell what the weather cycle and other factors that will play in the fuel economy are. I have watched my driving and what I am being told on the display to what Fuelly is telling me and there is a disconnect. The real seems to be way higher than what the computer in the car is saying. I know that the weather will play a huge difference for those of us that are not in some constant tropical climate and have to deal with snow, freezing weather requiring heat and changes in the gas fomulation that is provided over the winter months. It feels disheartning to see lots of other Kia Niro posts of 4.2~4.6L/100 when the best you have gotten is up at 6.0 (39mpg) for your last fillup. Sure it's far better than the 20-24mpg I was getting with my Ford Edge, but nowhere near what the dealer posted on the side of the car.

 

[tonepad]

It would be helpful if your posts and or signature would let us know what model you’re driving and what part of the world you live in. In my sig you can see my Fuelly stats and the 2018 Touring model I drive. Even tho I drive in mild SoCal Winter weather, I’m definitely seeing a MPG hit ... and we’re only experiencing mid 60 degree temps. My Fuelly sig is not showing this right now but it probly will next Fill. In case you don’t know the KIA on board computer is 2 to 3 mpg hig...for me it’s about +2 over the Fuelly average.

 

[yticolev]

I am experiencing the exact same problem! I took mine in for service about 3 months ago. And then over the last two months the mileage has dropped from 52 to 42. I am going to contact the dealership tomorrow, since it appears now that I am not the only person experiencing this.

My mpg has also dropped almost 20% in the last two months. While I don't know your climate without your location, my drop is related solely to the temperature drop.

 

[nickfixit]

I noticed a drop recently also. I was getting ~ 45-46 in 2018 Touring model from late May 2018 when I got it. I got almost 60 on the few longer trips I did. The Touring being heavier is is rated lower than other models but I figured I was doing well, I think using cruise control helps a lot even in 25 mph zones.

I had the recent BMS update and then immediately noticed a drop to ~ 42 mpg. This was before the weather cooled off. I ran about 1/4 tank then filled up again. Now the weather has turned colder and I am at 40 mpg for the 3/4 of that tank I used. Generally though I use Shell gas although from different stations. I also noticed the change in battery charge level, previously varied from maybe 3/8 to 5/8 full. After the update it varies from maybe 1/2 to 3/4 full. I don't se this changing fuel consumption though directly. The engine does start up much sooner though (even in the garage)but I think this is to warm the car as I have heating on and it will need to run the engine to warm the air and use more electricity to warm heated seats. This too will increase the fuel usage in the winter.

I checked with the dealer service dept. and they said to try different gas stations to see if that made a difference based on blend. It will take me a while to do that at my mile consumption. I do generally low mileage (under 4000 so far in 6 months) so do not get through many tanks of gas to compare gas blend changes but I will try that anyway. I did check the tires, they are all at 35 (cold weather drop I expect) - another lb in them would help a minor amount.

I think maybe I got triple played here. BMS update, winter gas blend and cold weather.

Despite that though I still really like the car. I was talking to someone who got a Hyundai 2018 hybrid and they also have the smart cruise control although his will work in stop and go driving to a dead stop so it works for highway stop & go with no intervention. I wish the Niro would do that - braking to 5 mph is nice but to a dead stop and starting up again would be a lot better.

2018 Red Niro Hybrid Touring - Northern Virginia USA.

 

[nickfixit]

Update-
Well, I filled the tank yesterday (after the car was warmed up) but the temperature yesterday and today was up to almost 70 deg F.
So far on this tank I am getting 46 mpg in city driving with 25 mph neighborhoods, 45 mph with stop lights, shopping, parking etc.
I drive pretty gently and use smart cruise control as much as possible.

So I think a lot of this is temperature related. I found a graph of mpg vs temperature for a Prius owner in Canada - his varied between 40 (cold weather) and 60+ (hot weather). I also saw that EPA ratings are measured in limited temp range somewhere around 75 deg. +/-.

 

[CED]

Bought my Niro Touring in Feb of 2017. Never noticed a great drop in fuel economy unless climbing hills when loaded. I always have changed my own oil with 0-20 synthetic. I went to a lube station and within a week it dropped from the mid 40s to mid 30s a gallon. The temperature had not dropped much yet. Tried everything I could think of and nothing improved. When I realized they probably put the wrong oil (standard) in, I was impressed they changed the oil to the synthetic... With no charge. Including a new filter.
After about two weeks it climbed to about 38 then I finally hit 40 MPG around town. I'll see what happens in the future, but it is the first encouraging change so far. Any ideas?

CED

 

[redevil]

Bought my EX in May 2018. Was getting 50-55 MPG. Had my car in for the Homelink mirror install and while in service, the dealer installed a software recall patch SA350 in October and my mileage immediately dropped. Now getting 39 MPG. That patch is for improved battery management but causes more power supply from gas engine. I complained to dealer and they referred me to Corporate. Corporate won't do anything until they hear more complaints. The software patch cannot be reversed. I will continue pursuing this with Federal and State Agencies as I purchased this vehicle for the rated MPG. My driving style is 70% economical, 29% normal and 1% aggressive. I live in Maryland where we do get cold weather in the winter but the mileage rating on the window sticker doesn't say the car only gets 49/51 in mild climates.

 

[fredct]

I live in Maryland where we do get cold weather in the winter but the mileage rating on the window sticker doesn't say the car only gets 49/51 in mild climates.

If the battery management update did cause your problem you have every right to be upset, but this part is unfair.

EPA testing takes place under certain conditions and there *is* a disclaimer on every label which says “Actual results with vary for many reasons including driving conditions and how you drive and maintain your vehicle” (temp would be part of “driving conditions”).

Every car gets lower mileage in the winter, and it’s known to be a more extreme and noticeable difference in hybrids.

The EPA does indeed test cold temps (20 deg F, see link), but it’s only 1 out of 6 tests and they are advertising some average of the 6.

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml

 

[jmurphEV]

Bought my EX in May 2018. Was getting 50-55 MPG. Had my car in for the Homelink mirror install and while in service, the dealer installed a software recall patch SA350 in October and my mileage immediately dropped. Now getting 39 MPG. That patch is for improved battery management but causes more power supply from gas engine. I complained to dealer and they referred me to Corporate. Corporate won't do anything until they hear more complaints. The software patch cannot be reversed. I will continue pursuing this with Federal and State Agencies as I purchased this vehicle for the rated MPG. My driving style is 70% economical, 29% normal and 1% aggressive. I live in Maryland where we do get cold weather in the winter but the mileage rating on the window sticker doesn't say the car only gets 49/51 in mild climates.

As others have said I would hold fire on this for a while. We bought our PHEV in April and have been getting ~55MPG in normal hybrid operation (long highway trips where we can't plug in for example). Now that it's gotten colder that's dropped to around 47MPG. The car has never been back to the dealer, so no software updates have been applied, so the difference is purely a matter of temperature. I've noticed the same drop in terms of EV range. In the summer I was getting around 28-30 miles of EV range and now I'm down to 22-24 or so.

Long story short, temperature makes a HUGE difference for hybrids and EVs because battery efficiency is a strong function of temperature.

Not saying that a software update can't change things significantly, but there are several confounding factors that need to be considered.