The Kia Niro is a petrol-electric hybrid model that steers clear of the normally extrovert styling cues of these sorts of cars, and that alone will put it at the top of many buyers shopping lists. And in isolation, the Niro is a spacious, well equipped and efficient family crossover.
However, it's obvious that the Niro is Kia's first hybrid effort, because while it's good, it can't quite match the efficiencies of other well developed hybrids, chiefly the Toyota Prius. Offering the Niro exclusively as a hybrid separates it from the rest of the Kia range, but like other petrol-electric models, urban driving shows it in a better light than longer journeys, as the engine will cut in more frequently than it does in a Prius, while the ordinary drive and poorer efficiency will come to light.
While the boldly styled Toyota Prius wears its eco-friendly credentials on its sleeve, the Kia Niro favours a more low-key approach. With its traditional compact family hatchback proportions, subtly raised ride height and tough-looking black wheelarch surrounds, the Kia follows a template set by fashionable, conventionally powered crossover models.
It lacks the instant head-turning appeal of a Prius, but this more conventional shape gives the Kia plenty of showroom appeal. Its smattering of off-roader styling cues and less adventurous design approach will be a big draw to buyers who want hybrid efficiency without shouting about it.
The subtle design continues inside, where the Niro feels far more mainstream than a Prius. Yet what it lacks in flair, the interior makes up for with solidity. Everything seems robustly built, while most of the materials have a high-quality look and feel.
For instance, soft-touch plastic covers the top of the dashboard, and the use of gloss black trim inserts and metal-effect air vent surrounds helps give the cabin an upmarket lift. One eco-minded feature is that you can set the climate controls to focus solely on the driver if you're travelling one-up - this is an eco feature that was first seen on the Kia Soul EV.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
The Niro 2 gets a seven-inch touchscreen sat-nav system, while the Niro 3 gets a larger eight-inch nav. Both are pretty easy to get along with, and have clear graphics and straightforward destination input.
The only clue to the Niro’s petrol-electric underpinnings is the unique instrument cluster, which features a full-colour 4.2-inch TFT screen and a power meter in place of the traditional rev counter.
This set-up allows you to monitor the energy flow between the batteries, electric motor, engine and wheels, plus it generates numerous fuel use statistics. And as a bit of fun, there’s a neat graphic that ‘grows’ a tree as you drive more efficiently.
Niro 2 and above get two USB sockets, while the Niro 3 also adds a wireless phone charging pad and eight-speaker JBL sound system with subwoofer in the boot.
Kia has tried to make the Niro as normal to drive as it is to look at, but as in all hybrid models, there’s eerie silence when you twist the key in the ignition. Slot the gear selector into Drive, squeeze the throttle and the car glides forward on electric power alone.
However, you don't have to press the pedal much harder for the 104bhp 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine to burst into life to assist the 43bhp electric motor. The internal combustion engine is more intrusive when compared to a Toyota Prius’s, particularly at high revs, when it takes on a coarse note and sends tingly vibrations through the car. The Niro also doesn’t accelerate with the same smooth and seamless action as the Toyota.
That’s partly down to the car’s six-speed twin-clutch gearbox, which delivers slightly lazy and jerky upshifts. Even so, once up to speed, the Niro will cruise for short periods up to 70mph on battery power alone. Yet while the Niro’s powerplant can’t match a Toyota’s for smoothness and refinement, it has the upper hand for performance. With a combined output of 141bhp, the Kia has a 20bhp advantage over a Prius, plus there’s a muscular 264Nm of torque available for short periods.
As a result, we tested a Niro over the 0-60mph sprint in a brisk 9.2 seconds, which was 1.1 seconds faster than the time we recorded in a Prius. It also beat its rival in our kickdown assessments, while its ability to hold gears allowed it to record better in-gear acceleration times, which were on par with traditional 1.6-litre diesel models.
However, in the real world, you have to work the Niro’s power unit hard to maintain the same pace as the more relaxing Toyota. Plus, the stiff suspension set-up results in the Kia following bumps at lower speeds and fidgeting on the motorway.
The Niro can’t match a Prius for driver involvement, which is something we never thought we'd say about a Prius, but the Kia's steering is direct and the handling is safe and predictable. Selecting Sport mode sharpens the throttle response, delivers a more aggressive shift strategy for the gearbox and adds weight to the steering, although it’s all rather at odds with the car’s otherwise sensible character.
Engine
The Niro's 1.6 direct-injection petrol engine is smooth, but it does cut in more frequently than a Toyota Prius's. This is the only engine currently on offer in the Niro, and it comes with a six-speed DCT twin-clutch gearbox. While that sounds more appealing than Toyota's CVT gearbox, it actually behaves quite like a CVT, as it holds on to the revs when accelerating, so it sounds rather harsh, while the shifts themselves are clunky.
Within the last decade, Kia has come on leaps and bounds, as it’s moved from budget brand to mainstream player. This is reflected by its decent 14th place finish in our Driver Power 2016 satisfaction survey. More impressive is the result of its dealer network, which owners rated ninth overall.
The standard Niro earned a four-star Euro NCAP safety rating in 2016, but if you add the optional Advanced Driving Assistance Pack, which includes autonomous emergency braking, as well as adaptive cruise control, for around £350, then the rating moves up to five stars.
This pack is standard on First Edition models, while standard safety kit across the range includes seven airbags, including a driver's knee bag, stability control, lane keep assist, tyre pressure monitors and hill start assist.
As for reliability, it's too early to say how the Niro will fare. Kia has tried to make its first hybrid model look and feel as mainstream as possible, but there are some real hi-tech touches, particularly when it comes to batteries.
While the Toyota Prius uses tried-and-tested nickel metal hydride cells, the Niro gets the latest lithium-ion polymer technology, as used in mobile phones. That means the Kia's batteries weigh just 33kg, and they offer around 50 per cent higher energy density than the Toyota’s.
Warranty
With that in mind, it's good to know that the petrol-electric drivetrain is covered by the same seven-year/100,000-mile warranty as the rest of the car, and that should give you extra peace of mind if you are planning to take the plunge on this new technology. You only get 12 months' breakdown assistance, though.
Servicing
Service intervals for the Niro are every 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. Kia’s Care-3 three-year servicing pack is available on the Niro, and it's reasonably priced at around £430. For an extra £30 you can also cover the costs of the car passing its first MoT, too.
By designing the Niro around a compact crossover template, Kia has delivered decent practicality. In terms of size, it sits somewhere between the Kia Cee'd hatchback and Kia Sportage crossover, so it fills a niche of its own in some ways.
Size
The Niro is 4,355mm long and has a wheelbase of 2,700mm. That's the same wheelbase as a Toyota Prius, but the Prius is around 200mm longer overall. As you would expect, that crossover shape means the Niro is taller and wider than the Prius, at 1,545mm and 1,805mm respectively.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
Occupants sitting in the rear of the Kia have more headroom than in the Toyota thanks to the car's squarer crossover shape.
Up front, the driver gets a wide range of seat and wheel adjustment, while the only real ergonomic niggle is the foot-operated parking brake, which sits uncomfortably high and near your left shin when it's disengaged.
Boot space
The upright tailgate opening isn’t as large as the hatchback Toyota Prius’s, but the Niro's 373-litre boot capacity is 30 litres up on its rival. With the rear seats folded, the Niro trails the Prius by 187 litres, at 1,371 litres, but it does at least benefit from a flat floor.
Elsewhere there’s decent storage, including a spacious glovebox, but it can’t quite match the neatly packaged Prius for cubby space. Like its rival, there's no spare wheel, just a bottle of sealant for minor punctures.
With prices starting at just under £21,500 and topping out at around £27,000, the Kia Niro is priced to compete against both the Toyota Auris Hybrid and the Prius. However, take the Niro 2 as an example when compared to the Toyota Prius Business Edition. Apart from the inclusion of sat-nav as standard on the Niro 2, the car isn’t nearly as well equipped as the Toyota.
Standard kit is generous, with all models getting cruise and climate control, a multifunction steering wheel and electric windows. 2 models add extras such as sat-nav, a leather-trimmed wheel, part-leather seat trim and an auto-dimming rear view mirror. But like the rest of the Kia range, there aren’t many options, so if you want extra kit you’ll have to trade up to the 3 for around £2,000 extra.
Look beyond list prices and the Kia doesn’t make as much financial sense, either. For starters, CO2 emissions of 88g/km make it a more expensive company car choice, with higher-rate earners paying around £300 more over the course of a year.
The Kia’s wheel size has an effect on CO2 emissions. Go for a less well equipped Niro 1 or 2 and you get modest 16-inch alloy wheels that help trim CO2 emissions to 88g/km, but the higher spec 3 and First Edition (later to be replaced by the niro 4), and these get bigger 18-inch alloys, which push the emissions figure up to 101g/km. In comparison, the latest Prius has emissions of 70-76g/km, and you can specify the higher spec models with smaller wheels to achieve the lower emissions figure.
Despite the focus on efficiency, the Kia tips the scales at a hefty 1,566kg, which is a significant 191kg more than a Prius. On the plus side, we recorded an excellent 59.6mpg fuel return while testing a Niro, compared to 57.8mpg for a Prius on a similar test route.
Insurance groups
There are four Niro models, and three out of the four sit in insurance Group 12. The Niro 3 is the exception, as it sits in Group 14. That's because it has more desirable kit than the Niro 1 and 2, but it doesn't feature autonomous emergency braking like the Group 12-rated First Edition/Niro 4.
Depreciation
Our experts have yet to calculate residuals for the Niro, but it’s unlikely it’ll beat the Prius’s impressive 47.3 per cent figure.