[Newfoundland]

Although it is a great car the Kia Niro EV (e-Niro in Europe) is not perfect, like any car on the market. In this video I list the things I “hate” about my Niro EV, now that I have owned it for almost 2 years and over 36,000km of driving. Some things are Niro EV specific, but there are some things that apply to other EVs and even ICE vehicles. Watch to find out what I don’t like, and in case you did not know there are bloopers at the end of almost every video I make 🙂.

Great and fun video on the Kia Niro EV, as always!
Andre, I wonder if you have thoughts on the latest Consumer Reports April Issue. They give the worst marks possible for reliability and that surprised me. I haven't found many problems by Kia EV owners and so wonder how they came up with that bad rating? I did hear about electric motors needing replacement originally, but not this last year.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Jonathan

 

[drd1961]

Yeah, when I first got mine I was looking all over for a button around the driver's area. No such button. Really seems like an oversight.

I can add one more thing. When you engage the cruise control, especially to resume a set speed, it won't actually take over the throttle until you release the accelerator. The problem with that is when you release the pedal, it feels like it. The car slows a bit, then picks back up. If you're going uphill, the speed loss is significant, especially if someone is behind you. They might think you're doing it on purpose. I've mostly taken to accelerating manually until I am just above the set speed, then slow release the pedal after I engage the CC. And I don't even try when going uphill. No other car I've ever owned has done this. Dodge, Ford, Chrysler, VW, Audi, Subaru, and more. I can hit resume on any of them and the CC will take the car and continue to accelerate before I release the pedal.

I have an 2017 Niro HEV EX Premium and I'm experiencing the exact same cruise control issue, you described it perfectly, including that part where you state that other cars "resume" as expected. I've complained to my dealer and the only explanation that I was given is that the regenerative braking mechanism interferes with the cruise control mechanism, which I think is just BS. So when using cc, I do like you do, accelerate back to my set point and reset the cc.

 

[xenon2060]

These features are missing in my car but they exist in the car manual (I guess, they depend on the country):
1. AC socket in the car.
2. Forward/Reverse parking distance warning system button.
3. VESS button and its sound level adjustment option from the menu.

These features are missing vs other SUVs:
1. No Wifi hotspot.
2. No side camera or 360 degree camera system.

 

[atc98092]

My '19 PHEV has items 1 and 2. The AC socket is on the back of the console, available to the rear seats. The parking sensor button is to the left of the shifter. But the EV has a completely different console from the PHEV and HEV, so it's possible the manual is showing them for our models. Complaints about the VESS sound level have been expressed loudly here before. They apparently really made it obnoxious on the '20 models, as the '19s are pretty tame. I would agree that a volume control would be valuable.

I can see some benefit from a hotspot in a car (my daughter's Pacifica Hybrid has it for their kids to link their devices), but most phones have hotspot abilities are well, so you could always do it that way, and not have to pay for another device.

Cameras are a great thing, and I think they will appear on more cars as time passes. Perhaps the new EV that Kia is going to announce this month. Hyundai announced the Ioniq 5 last month, and I believe it will have cameras all around.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

What is an AC socket? Surely not an electrical socket providing AC voltage.

Where in the manual xenon2060?

Yes 2 and 3 are optional by model/country, we do not get them...

Greg

 

[xenon2060]

The picture below is from page 3-05 of the Kia manual.

(25) is the AC inverter and its description is in page 5-130: It supplies 220V/200W and the vehicle needs to be ON. Since its voltage is 220V but not 110V, it might be an option in Asia/Europe.

Since I could not find this socket in the car and I might need it to e.g. charge laptop, I purchased one 12V/110V inverter for 30$ from Amazon (it gets connected to the cigarette lighter port and it provides two AC and two USB sockets).

 

[Gerd_NL]

Here in NL I have it also only in my manual, but:

and that means: if applicable ... depends on your version of the Niro ...

 

[xenon2060]

The wifi hotspot is very helpful to get live notification and live stream from dashcam, in case of accident while the car is parked.

 

[Jackfish]

If you unlock the car with the button on the door, you can open the rear hatch without carrying the key. You still have to press the hidden button, but it will unlock with no fob on your person. If someone exits the car without turning the car off, only the door that was opened is unlocked and the rear hatch remains locked as well. You have to completely unlock the car to open the hatch without a fob.

Ok we're going shopping today so thanks in advance . I never looked into it really , just thought that it was weird .

 

[atc98092]

What is an AC socket? Surely not an electrical socket providing AC voltage.

Where in the manual xenon2060?

Yes 2 and 3 are optional by model/country, we do not get them...

Greg

My PHEV has a 120vac outlet on the rear of the console, for rear seat passengers. I'm unsure of the wattage rating, but yes it provides US standard AC voltage. And as I said, I have item 1 as well. The button to turn the parking sensors are to the left of the shift lever, next to the hybrid mode button.

 

[yticolev]

Since I could not find this socket in the car and I might need it to e.g. charge laptop, I purchased one 12V/110V inverter for 30$ from Amazon (it gets connected to the cigarette lighter port and it provides two AC and two USB sockets).

Unless you are dealing with multiple needs versus a laptop, it is far more efficient (and even less expensive - I paid $13) to get a DC to DC converter to charge your laptop. Going DC (car) to AC (inverter) to DC (power brick) to laptop is two extra energy intensive steps. I keep my cable in the car (so I don't forget it on trips) where it takes up very little room compared to an inverter. Charges even faster than my home laptop brick - which is supposedly 31 watts, but Coconut Battery app only reports 18 watts top charging rate. I keep forgetting to do the same check in the car because I take so few trips these days.

 

[xenon2060]

Unless you are dealing with multiple needs versus a laptop, it is far more efficient (and even less expensive - I paid $13) to get a DC to DC converter to charge your laptop. Going DC (car) to AC (inverter) to DC (power brick) to laptop is two extra energy intensive steps. I keep my cable in the car (so I don't forget it on trips) where it takes up very little room compared to an inverter. Charges even faster than my home laptop brick - which is supposedly 31 watts, but Coconut Battery app only reports 18 watts top charging rate. I keep forgetting to do the same check in the car because I take so few trips these days.

Yes. DC to DC inverter should be a more efficient way to charge one laptop. 12V-20V DC converter should be sufficient. The laptops with 12V input eventually do not need any inverter

One concern is overshooting the DC output voltage, in case of malfunctioning the DC-DC inverter. Could it possibly damage the laptop battery or the laptop circuits? I suppose that it would not be an issue, if using DC to AC converter together with the laptop charger.

 

[yticolev]

I think most laptops require about 17 volts to charge. If a DC converter were to fail (which is super rare - cable or connector would go first), I'd think failure mode would be zero to 13.8 volts output which would not be a problem. Perhaps if it had multiple output voltages, it could fail up.

The DC output of a DC or AC/DC converter doesn't control charging, the laptop (or phone) does. I do read from recent discussions of iPhone 12 fast chargers that there can be communication between some bricks and the device, but not sure if device is sending instructions to the brick, or if it is simply the device detecting an approved charger to allow implementation of fast charging. But since as far as I know Apple has never said a negative word about hooking up USB cables in cars to iPhones, I don't get that there would be any distinction for laptops.

Aside from efficiency, there is a non-zero increase of fire risk of using an inverter in a car, especially a cheap one. Many years ago with the first Magsafe Apple laptop, I did buy an inverter with a universal connection kit because it was the only car solution I could find. Very clumsy, lots of wires and connections. Very happy not to use that again - cost was like $120 and as I recall, charging was slow.

 

[EV-olution]

Yeah, I suppose there could be a difference between the EV and PHEV. Although I would think that would be odd. A system like that I would have expected to carry over between all three versions of the Niro.

I think it has to do with the fact that the HEV and PHEV have gas motors that are taken into account, but I don't really know.

 

[EV-olution]

Hello to eveyrone who has posted in this thread. I don't know why but I did not receive any notifications for this! I apologize for not responding due to this issue. I will read them all a bit later today and answer any questions that were directed to me. Once again I am really sorry.

 

[EV-olution]

Great and fun video on the Kia Niro EV, as always!
Andre, I wonder if you have thoughts on the latest Consumer Reports April Issue. They give the worst marks possible for reliability and that surprised me. I haven't found many problems by Kia EV owners and so wonder how they came up with that bad rating? I did hear about electric motors needing replacement originally, but not this last year.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Jonathan

I think they are counting the potential motor issue, but I am also surprised about the rating because the Niro EV has been my most reliable car in over 34 years and many many cars. I have spent less than 300$ in maintenance in 2 years and 95% of that was a brake cleaning at all 4 wheels after 1 year and 24,000km, with the rest being cabin filters and wiper blades that I bought and tested for my video about easy EV maintenance at home.

 

[EV-olution]

These features are missing in my car but they exist in the car manual (I guess, they depend on the country):
1. AC socket in the car.
2. Forward/Reverse parking distance warning system button.
3. VESS button and its sound level adjustment option from the menu.

These features are missing vs other SUVs:
1. No Wifi hotspot.
2. No side camera or 360 degree camera system.

The first three are dependant on your country. I have the AC plug in the back, as well as front and rear parking warning, but since I am in Canada and the US has a law about VESS being required, I don't have the VESS button option. This is something that really annoys me because we don't have the VESS law in Canada (yet).

As for the WiFi, I agree, it should be in the car, and the 360 camera view would have been nice. The new Kia EV6 will have these features, at least it should for the 360 cameras as I have seen the cameras on the mirrors in the Kia release images. Here's hoping.

 

[EV-olution]

What is an AC socket? Surely not an electrical socket providing AC voltage.

Where in the manual xenon2060?

Yes 2 and 3 are optional by model/country, we do not get them...

Greg

The AC socket is a 120V regular outlet, in North America, that allows you to plug in your laptop, or other small devices, but nothing that pulls lots of amps, like a Nespresso coffee maker.... ask me how I know 😎

 

[EV-olution]

The picture below is from page 3-05 of the Kia manual.

(25) is the AC inverter and its description is in page 5-130: It supplies 220V/200W and the vehicle needs to be ON. Since its voltage is 220V but not 110V, it might be an option in Asia/Europe.

Since I could not find this socket in the car and I might need it to e.g. charge laptop, I purchased one 12V/110V inverter for 30$ from Amazon (it gets connected to the cigarette lighter port and it provides two AC and two USB sockets).

In North America it is a regular 110/120V household outlet. I use it regularly.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I live in the same country as xenon2060, the USA. I have the same year model, 2020

The manual I have shows the back of the console and there is no plug, or anything like that. and the console is shown on page 3-7

The Kia manual I have says 2020 Niro eco/electric owners manual on the first page, and page 548 is the last page with year 2019 on it.

Is there a newer/different manual for the 2020 Niro EV? does Xenon2060 have a PHEV?

Anyone with a link to a different but appropriate manual for the 2020 EV? Especially one that has the illustration on the page he says?

Greg