KIA Niro EV 2023 electric car owner review

EVOwner drives a KIA Niro EV 64.8kWh 2023.

This is EVOwner’s second electric car, he’s owned the KIA Niro EV 1-2 years and drives 5,000-10,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 5,000-10,000 miles and he achieves 193 miles from a full charge.

Why did you choose the KIA Niro EV?

I chose this car because I believed it would be of good quality, be robust and be fault free. I also wanted up to date technology including driver assistance for longer journeys.

Positives

Easy design shape to keep clean
nice to have under bonnet storage
ventilated seats.

Negatives

Very lethargic start up sequence.
Dull as dishwater to drive.
Totally uninspiring and boring.

Compared to when you first bought the car, does your battery still charge at the same rate & do you still get the same range?

Yes, as far as I can tell.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

Broke down, failed to start and left me and my family stranded away from home
wouldn’t start on my driveway
broke down at the supermarket
dealership unconcerned
Niro began wandering on the motorway
Frequent notification of driver safety systems failing.

What are the standout technological features of the car?

Vehicle to load (V2L), but I’ve never once had cause to use it.

Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car

If you try hard enough you can arrange all your cables so they fit into the frunk.

What’s the biggest or funniest myth you’ve heard about EVs?

That they might catch fire at any moment.

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

Renault 5 because it’s cool and designed from knowledge gained from the ZOE.

Home charging unit

myenergi zappi 7.4kW charger – very useful to be able to time the charge or leave it to work out when my solar PV panels are producing enough surplus power and start a charge automatically.

Electricity supplier & tariff

Octopus EV – very good and reliable but good luck changing to a different tariff as they make it difficult.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

The Niro EV can only charge at a slow 11kW AC so stick to DC charging on long journeys.

Insurer

No problems except the Niro EV is relatively expensive to insure.

Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running a KIA Niro EV

Given that we charge using the cheap rate at night or more often for free from the solar panels, it’s as cheap as chips to fuel the car. No way am I going back to pouring petrol into a car and watch my money burn away!