2020 Kia Niro EV Review: Closer and Closer

Auto123 reviews the 2020 Kia Niro EV.

Indulging in a bit of gratuitous range anxiety, I turned off the heating in my 2020 Kia Niro EV tester (in early December, at -5 degrees Celsius) just so the remaining-charge readout in front of me could display the highest possible number. 393 km. A nice number, one that would stop me stressing for oh, 20 km.

Rationally I knew perfectly well that my trip for the day, a 220-km return ride to the Eastern Townships from Montreal, was well within the capacities of the Niro EV’s battery pack. But most of that distance would be highway driving, I said to myself, and I proceeded to do the math four times. And zip up my jacket.

There in a nutshell is a principal hurdle that makers of EVs have to overcome as they hope to convince motorists to go electric. We’re so used to having a gas station at virtually every corner or every exit off the highway that anything less feels inadequate, as well as an invitation to getting stranded.

In the case of the Niro EV and other current models of its type – the Hyundai Kona, Kia’s Soul, etc. – what’s lost in this angst is the fact that it’s now totally routine to have a 400-km range at our disposal. We're a long way from the 200 km of the e-Golf, for example, and yet it's as if we still stress as if we're not.

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