Louth Motoring: Kia's trailblazer is the complete package

One of the outstanding electric cars on sale is the Kia EV6. Kia have been blown away by the demand for this car and it, along with other models in the range, has them well on the way to being the 4th bestselling brand in Ireland this year.

There is a right ding-dong between them and Skoda for 4th place with both nearly 4,000 units behind Volkswagen, yes VW, in third. Toyota with five of the bestselling car models in the Top 10 are way out in front and pretty unassailable.

But back to Kia. They should not be blown away by the demand or their success because the groundwork has been well laid by those that went before.

In particular this week's test car, the Niro EV, which was the second bestselling electric car in 2021 making Kia the second bestselling brand overall in the process.

That was done, pre-EV6, with some help from their only other electric offering, the previous Overall Irish Car of the Year winner, the Soul.

It's one of the mysteries of motoring that this car wasn't embraced more by EV buyers with it hitting the bullseye on price and range.

It's a hidden motoring gem I feel, borne out by the fact that you can't find one on sale second-hand. Those buyers know a wonderful thing when they have one.

This year, sales of the Niro EV and the EV6 place Kia currently in 3rd place overall snapping at the heels of Hyundai who should finish in 2nd.

The reason Kia is selling so well is down to one major factor. They are particularly good cars. Added to that, and of major importance for electric car owners, is that they regularly meet, or come close to, the manufactures' claims for range that a lot of others don't in my humble, user experience.

Even before we all became obsessed with the range of electric cars the manufacturers figures for petrol and diesel cars were the stuff of Hans Christian Andersen.
When I got the Niro EV, I conducted a previous experiment where I just got on with my driving and did not worry about charging until I got down to ¼ of a full charge left.

That's much the same way I operate in a petrol or diesel car – I don't like the fuel below ¼ tank. When that milestone arose, I made my choice on how to recharge it, and only then.

It normalises electric car use and shows you that constant checking of the range, in the Niro EV at least, is wasted effort.

In my case the 1/4 tank milestone coincided with me passing a 50kW charger so happy days. 30 mins and I was back to 65 %. The Niro EV doesn't seem capable of availing of the faster speeds from the 150kW and 300kW chargers appearing as the 0-80% times for these is the same.

The charge socket is centrally mounted at the front which makes using a ChargePoint a lot easier. At home on your typical 7.2kW charger it'll take 9 hours and 25 mins to fully charge. That’s overnight to you and me which is how most people will charge it assuming you have off street parking.

The Niro is a CUV and is the shape that will lure and attract buyers. It has the front of the Sportage, or is that the other way round, and oozes modernity.

There are plastic sideblades at the back that can be ordered as a contrasting colour instead of the fading fashion of a different roof colour. The angular rear lights follow the lines of the sideblades and hats off to Kia.

The radical looks change over the last model rather than a conservative evolution is very welcome. It's quite a daring looking car and perfectly complements the space-agey looks of the EV6. Tip. The Cityscape Green colour is glorious and the pick.

Some facts for you now. The battery is 64.8 kWh, the range is a claimed 460kms and the 0-100km/hr time is 7.8s. In my real world driving I managed a range expectation of 370kms but the average for all previous users of this test car was 415kms - only 10% less than the manufacturers claim.

The all-important boot, accessed correctly via a hatchback, is 475 litres, you get a frunk for your charging leads and all Kias come with that equally all-important 7-year warranty for supreme peace of mind.

Inside the Niro is very inviting and noticeably upmarket.

You get an all-digital dashboard with all the connectivity you'll ever need. Materials are superb to touch and even your nose is rewarded.

I love the central console design and layout and if this design/layout could be frozen, it wouldn't be a bad standard for everyone to adopt.

Nor would the multimode display in the middle of the dash below the infotainment screen. For me, it's the best use of touch ever being interchangeable between media and air-conditioning.

On the road, noise, wind and road/tyre are more excessive than expected for what you pay, but not deafening or overly so.

The ride is super cosseting, and the electric motor is zippy when needed.

On the R roads around me it handled the corners very satisfactorily with the steering feeling very light that some love, some hate and some never notice.

I drove the PHEV version previously and I prefer this EV version as it feels more solid and planted.
Kia has kept it simple with just two trim levels - one starting at €41,775 and the other at €44,990. And therein lies the beginning of a problem.

Kia buyers are quite loyal and in general have been rewarded with reliable, practical and functional cars. Kia is still doing this with added panache but as quality and image moves upmarket that comes with an additional price premium.

This leaves space for a pretender to eat your lunch.

That whippersnapper comes in a few guises, most notably from China, and most notably MG who have some very competent and potent products that are very keenly priced and may very well do to Kia what Kia has done to others. We shall wait and see.