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Video - Niro EV the Things I Hate

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12v niro ev
13K views 66 replies 16 participants last post by  EV-olution 
#1 ·
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 🙂.

 
#3 ·
I like your videos. Thank you for making them . They are informative and your sense of humor adds to the videos, I enjoy the bloopers.

I am a bit older than you and less tech savvy. I like the buttons and typically pay no attention at all to the the digital display. For us we have different generations driving this vehicle. My wife(12 years younger than myself) enjoys the touch screens, our children like the voice commands and of course Apple Car Play. My wife uses Android Auto as her phone is a Samsung and I have an old fashioned flip phone and no use for any smart phone car apps.

My point is KIA thoughtfully allows each generation to interact with the car in the way they are most comfortable with. I think this is a great approach that doesn't demand the customer interact with the car in a specific way.

I can appreciate how someone of a different generation would consider the buttons useless and a waste of space - my children feel that way and also and never touch the buttons.
 
#4 ·
Thank you very much. I just want to clarify that I am not against buttons, but having things duplicated and having over 70 buttons is a bit much for my taste. There are several things that are rarely interacted with that could have been placed in the menus of the screen. I just wish Kia would have made a compromise between button crazy and zero buttons; a nice midway would make me happy, but like you said, to each their own 😎. Once again, thank you for taking the time to watch my videos, I really do appreciate it.
 
#5 ·
User interface is tricky. The balance between buttons with a specific function, and some form of menuing system really depends. It can be taken to a ridiculous extremen, owning a car that can only have the boot opened with a cell phone app is one.

Anyone who lived through the "single knob control', think BMW knows that is not the answer.

I see there is duplication of functions in some cases... good! Have you noticed that you can do things several ways using computers, menus and shortcut keys?

The biggest issue I have is the lack of persistent controls... my other 2 cars remember my settings, when I drive the Kia, I have to re-enable several things EVERY time I drive, every time the car is turned off...

Greg
 
#6 ·
Designing a good UI is not hard, but manufacturers ignore UI design criteria. The touchpoints need to be consistent, just like a button, to enable muscle memory. Most used functions need to be immediately available with one to two touches, and seldom used ones buried. And of course, user options should be persistent. Personally, I find the entire touchscreen UI to be incredibly bad. Not even close to say a smartphone UI. Or better consumer facing screen UIs like ATMs - where buttons work even better than touch for such menus, and would in a car as well. I've yet to see a really well integrated grocery self-checkout, but even ones I have never seen before, I can sail though the process in seconds and with far less frustration than car UIs. Different animal of course, but why does it have to be so hard to something as simple as getting ambient outside air without HVAC processing?

To me, putting so many buttons on the steering wheel is not good UI. For example, I often press the wrong button on the right side when my steering wheel is not centered. So much easier to use (for example) cruise control functions on a spatially consistent stalk without having to look while making a turn or curve. After 3 years of ownership, I have yet to use any steering wheel left hand buttons. Volume up/down? 60 years of alternative attempts have proven the value of a volume knob. I'd have to look at the up/down buttons, but don't have to take my eyes off the road to use the volume knob. Apple recently (and relatively radically) placed one on their recent Bluetooth headphones to rave reviews. Most competing BT headphones have capacitive touch controls. I used one of those Apple headphones for a month and concur that the volume knob works really well.
 
#8 ·
The biggest complaint I have about the Niro is that the HVAC system is too integrated with the infotainment system. On the EX trim with the 8" screen, the system is very, very slow to bootup. HVAC controls needs to ALWAYS be discreet and separate from infotainment systems because I have yet to see an acceptably fast infotainment system in a new car. I can see the argument that some buttons could be removed, but I don't mind the buttons. Some buttons, like those for the seat heaters/coolers and steering wheel heater should remain buttons. They need to be quickly accessible, without having to flip through menus to turn on or off.

One thing that EV-olution did not mention in his video: not being able to turn off the startup welcome or shutoff goodbye sounds. I find them annoying and unnecessary, though I am used to them now. Every other car I have owned recently you have been able to turn off that sound.

Also, I find it annoying I cannot set the default drive mode regeneration setting to 0 (coasting) for any drive modes. The minimum is 1. I prefer coasting. Why do manufacturers prevent their customers from having full configurability over their cars? There was zero cost in allowing for the 0 setting. Allow users to configure their car to their liking.
 
#11 ·
The "handle" for the rear hatch is actually a button under the bottom edge. It is not well placed, the space gets filled with dirt and/or snow and ice, and sometimes the button is not fast to respond. I forgot to mention this one in the video.
 
#16 ·
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.
 
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#34 ·
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.
 
#18 ·
We have a 19 hev touring I don't like that shiny black plastic. I basically never use the radio knob , just use the steering wheel buttons, I've never had that feature before but really like it. I find the cruise easy to use with the buttons. I don't really use the touch screen when I'm driving much. I have a smart phone but don't really like it. I use it for waze and audio books etc. Before we bought this car we both had flip phones . I am a big believer in the digital speedo. I generally am not a fan of controls that are too easy to screw up unintentionally. I've changed the interior light settings and side mirror settings multiple times. Last week I was driving and bumped something with my left hand and the side mirrors folded in At the next light I reset them. Finally if we go shopping my wife goes in alone due to covid . If she doesn't have her keys she can't open the hatch. I don't have a button to push.
 
#19 ·
Finally if we go shopping my wife goes in alone due to covid . If she doesn't have her keys she can't open the hatch. I don't have a button to push.
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.
 
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#21 ·
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
 
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#36 ·
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.
 
#23 ·
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.
 
#37 ·
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.
 
#24 ·
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.
 
#30 ·
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.
 
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#26 ·
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).
6710
 
#31 ·
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.
 
#33 ·
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.
 
#35 ·
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.
 
#40 ·
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
 
#49 ·
#41 · (Edited)

You can look up the manual for any model and year. I did a quick search and found no reference to a AC outlet inside the car. It only mentions the 12vdc outlets and USB ports. I couldn't find any image of the back of the console, but it's 548 pages and I might have missed one.
 
#42 ·
It seems that the Canadian version is different. My Niro EV EX 2020 does not have the AC outlet.

Another concern is the included SiruisXM trial service and the upcoming heavy follow-ups by SXM to upgrade (call, mail, email). If I want to pay ~10$/m, I will definitely use YouTube Music or Spotify apps. They are not included in the car apps and it is needed to connect the phone by USB.
 
#43 ·
Xenon2060 We upgraded to You Tube Premium a couple of weeks ago , and it came with You Tube Music . We also have Sirius in the car but I have to admit that I've mostly been listening to You Tube Music in the car . It seems like a good deal to me anyways . It also gets rid of ads on You Tube on the TV phone or tablet .
 
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