Kia Niro PHEV new purchase

R

ron in new mexico

Member
Hi, just wanted to give a few general observations from a new purchase with about a thousand miles on it. These comments are not in any manner technical, just personal in nature.
Range, as I live at altitude and the temps at night, which is when I charge, have never been close to 32F, most commonly about 15F or so, or lower, it averages only a max of 24 miles. I expect that is directly related to the charging temperatures.
But the range seems much longer than that listed in the actual. Part of this is my first drive to town is almost all, in the first seven miles, downhill. I will loose zero miles of charge in the first seven. However to the inverse I seem to loose more than seven in the uphill on the way home. So the range thing is a bit as to application.
If I use sport mode it seems to charge up pretty rapidly. So if I want to charge it up I simply put it in sport mode when in town. Seems for every three in sport I get one in charge.
Changed out the tires and wheels after a week or so, to snows. Seems mileage is about the same. The mileage now averages between in composite about 70-80 by gage.
I have a thing about warming up combustion engines, especially when new, so I do indeed start it and run the heater to run the combustion engine every day I use it. The interior heater only runs off the combustion engine. But it only heats a bit, about one of ten pegs. With a full running engine it runs about in the middle or five. I will also move it to sport when I run out of charge to see to it the engine spends at least five minutes or so at regular operating temp. It will slip in and out of EV more when not in sport mode.
So I am really not running the car for full efficiency. Come summer I will run it initially all electric.
Electricity is cheap here, but am awaiting my first bill to see the increase. Gas wise thousand miles I filled it up once, and the gage is almost full right now. Seven gallons or so was the fill up with now probably three more used, for a thousand miles.
I am starting to have to make a effort to keep it in sport mode to break in the engine. The 600 mile break in does not really apply as that is a standard number for non PHEV vehicles. The gas engine is simply not on for three quarters of the time. So a thousand is equal to maybe 200, 300 at best.
I don't want to drive to aggressively till I meet 600 gas miles on the engine. So being cautious that will probably be in 3000 miles.
I will have to change the oil more often as with such infrequent use and sporadic use it probably approximates severe service.
Car handles on the winding mountain roads better than my crosstrek,which is a surprise considering the small tires on the PHEV. I stayed with the same size for the snows. Went to continental as opposed to Michelin snows I had on the crosstrek.
Lane assist could be stronger by my take. Blind spot and all that works just fine.
Back up alarm went on for a pedestrian who I just did not see, it being twilight, so that helps a lot.
Crosstrek hybrid averaged about 36 or so. Seems Kia the mileage by my read it is between by gage 70-80, and by the actual gas use, probably closer to 100 in gas use only considered. The 20 or so variance would probably be the electric composite of the total. In any event I would anticipate for most very little gas is used If you drive about twice the EV range as I do.
No warm up, no sport mode, and all the rest I could get probably very much more out of the charges.
Maybe when I see the electric bill I will conserve more ;)

Not much snow use yet. Just on the driveway seems OK.
All in all, how will I ever use up my smiths grocery gas credits with this car.....seems unlikely I will. It uses so little of it.
All in all then, nothing to complain about. AV all that seems OK. Maps used it with my phone, all seems good. Mostly I just use the music which for some reason now has better range(mountains obstruct the signal) I will try to find some thing, I expect I just must try harder ;) Takes a while to charge up....
 
Just a quick update. Just filled it up at around 1200 miles, the total gas I have used is around I think 13 gallons.
I don't know the average but guess it is off the charts. The average on the gages shows 70 something but seems to vary considerably depending on the results of the last drive. Today was probably my lowest day driving and I think I was 60 or so total. Raining today perhaps had a to do with that. West side driving I seem to do much better. It reads a day(seems to combine the time used and mileage for a total days use ongoing during the day) as a total and also has a immediate drive tally and a overall tally. Could reset the thing but just keeping it as is for now. Seems real handy that.
Last electric bill came in a half a month with charging seems it is up ten dollars or so. So our electric seems way cheaper than gas. Which I suspected. My total bill for electric, a well, fans of various sorts, lights, occasional bath electric heat, washer frig, runs only about 35 per month average before the plug in. Hard to figure KW hours the way they do the bill. But next month will be a full tell on that. Checked I was using I think around 35 40 gals of gas which was around 36 or so MPG in my old car per month. So 70 80 USD. 1200 I would say is a average month probably. So 13 gals and whatever electric. Say it is 20 more electric. I save 22 to 27 gals of gas each month. 45 or 50 USD for 20 in electric.
Or very roughly 30 probably saved each month in fuel costs on a 1200 miles per month average. With gas around 2 per gal with my discount. 2 fill ups around 6 or 7gals each, as opposed to four.
Winter heater and all and I warm the car up, new car, snows, I guess mileage will increase. Prime mileage my last new car Subaru took several thousand to realize. Did not realize peak till around 30k or so.
Was cruising in EV today at 80 MPH. Seems speed really does not push one out of EV. Like sport much better for the going back up the hills and with the sharp turns. More responsive and you feel the car more. Acceleration it stays in EV as well unless I guess I would really stomp on it. Getting on the freeway a almost dead stop a left turn up a hill and to speed checked today it was all EV. No problem 65 when merging. In sport it is mostly ICE with some EV. Strong acceleration would be all ICE in sport. Seems all ICE perhaps EV kicks in as well, don't know on that.
Even zero miles left in EV it runs in ev quite often for short periods. Probably the regeneration. In sport EV charging is much faster on the road.
 
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Speed. In New Mexico, I have driven slow small cars for years, a trick I guess to get at you, is to when merging in traffic, tailgating first always, if they have a fast car, some will accelerate to the left of you and stay there, basically preventing you entry to the freeway. So really you are sort of forced to do a quick freeway entrance. So yesterday I did my first normal entrance, the car being somewhat broken in, and it seemed actually faster than my crosstrek hybrid. I left this tailgater in some sort of Nissan in the dust.
New Mexico has real big problems with road rage. People pulling guns is not at all unusual, three incidents in the last month of people on !25 having their cars and windows shot out. A little baby girl shot in traffic a few years back. Improving somewhat now with a new mayor in albuquerque and governor, but still a long way to go Highest crime rate in the nation in many catagories is not Detroit or Colorado but Albuquerque. Hate to say it, but remote rural two lanes sometimes speed is the way out of a problem if there is a obviously crazy person behind. They will not allow you to just pull over and let them pass. Had one driving on the far right shoulder for instance a few months back. Guess he imagined something, probably on meds. I don't know how it is in other places but here it is plainly out of control.
It occurred to me some make take this speed thing I mention as suggestion for their employment. AS backround I have extensive driver training by past profession and have many many hours of above the speed limit real world driving experience. Most are not me in this. Most loons high on shrooms can simply hardly drive a car nevertheless keep up with me.
 
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One of my concerns with ICE engines in the winter is that on short trips they don't get hot enough to vaporize the blow by contaminants in the oil or condensation build up in the exhaust system. I've set a rule for myself that once I've started the ICE I try to use until fully warmed up before shutting off. I wonder how the hybrids will deal with this?
 
ron in new mexico said:
Hi, just wanted to give a few general observations from a new purchase with about a thousand miles on it. These comments are not in any manner technical, just personal in nature.
Range, as I live at altitude and the temps at night, which is when I charge, have never been close to 32F, most commonly about 15F or so, or lower, it averages only a max of 24 miles. I expect that is directly related to the charging temperatures.
But the range seems much longer than that listed in the actual. Part of this is my first drive to town is almost all, in the first seven miles, downhill. I will loose zero miles of charge in the first seven. However to the inverse I seem to loose more than seven in the uphill on the way home. So the range thing is a bit as to application.
If I use sport mode it seems to charge up pretty rapidly. So if I want to charge it up I simply put it in sport mode when in town. Seems for every three in sport I get one in charge.
Changed out the tires and wheels after a week or so, to snows. Seems mileage is about the same. The mileage now averages between in composite about 70-80 by gage.
I have a thing about warming up combustion engines, especially when new, so I do indeed start it and run the heater to run the combustion engine every day I use it. The interior heater only runs off the combustion engine. But it only heats a bit, about one of ten pegs. With a full running engine it runs about in the middle or five. I will also move it to sport when I run out of charge to see to it the engine spends at least five minutes or so at regular operating temp. It will slip in and out of EV more when not in sport mode.
So I am really not running the car for full efficiency. Come summer I will run it initially all electric.
Electricity is cheap here, but am awaiting my first bill to see the increase. Gas wise thousand miles I filled it up once, and the gage is almost full right now. Seven gallons or so was the fill up with now probably three more used, for a thousand miles.
I am starting to have to make a effort to keep it in sport mode to break in the engine. The 600 mile break in does not really apply as that is a standard number for non PHEV vehicles. The gas engine is simply not on for three quarters of the time. So a thousand is equal to maybe 200, 300 at best.
I don't want to drive to aggressively till I meet 600 gas miles on the engine. So being cautious that will probably be in 3000 miles.
I will have to change the oil more often as with such infrequent use and sporadic use it probably approximates severe service.
Car handles on the winding mountain roads better than my crosstrek,which is a surprise considering the small tires on the PHEV. I stayed with the same size for the snows. Went to continental as opposed to Michelin snows I had on the crosstrek.
Lane assist could be stronger by my take. Blind spot and all that works just fine.
Back up alarm went on for a pedestrian who I just did not see, it being twilight, so that helps a lot.
Crosstrek hybrid averaged about 36 or so. Seems Kia the mileage by my read it is between by gage 70-80, and by the actual gas use, probably closer to 100 in gas use only considered. The 20 or so variance would probably be the electric composite of the total. In any event I would anticipate for most very little gas is used If you drive about twice the EV range as I do.
No warm up, no sport mode, and all the rest I could get probably very much more out of the charges.
Maybe when I see the electric bill I will conserve more ;)

Not much snow use yet. Just on the driveway seems OK.
All in all, how will I ever use up my smiths grocery gas credits with this car.....seems unlikely I will. It uses so little of it.
All in all then, nothing to complain about. AV all that seems OK. Maps used it with my phone, all seems good. Mostly I just use the music which for some reason now has better range(mountains obstruct the signal) I will try to find some thing, I expect I just must try harder ;) Takes a while to charge up....
Click to expand...
According to some articles I've seen, it adds on about $36 a mth in electricity bill if you use it daily yo go to work.
 
ron in new mexico said:
Just a quick update. Just filled it up at around 1200 miles, the total gas I have used is around I think 13 gallons.
I don't know the average but guess it is off the charts. The average on the gages shows 70 something but seems to vary considerably depending on the results of the last drive. Today was probably my lowest day driving and I think I was 60 or so total. Raining today perhaps had a to do with that. West side driving I seem to do much better. It reads a day(seems to combine the time used and mileage for a total days use ongoing during the day) as a total and also has a immediate drive tally and a overall tally. Could reset the thing but just keeping it as is for now. Seems real handy that.
Last electric bill came in a half a month with charging seems it is up ten dollars or so. So our electric seems way cheaper than gas. Which I suspected. My total bill for electric, a well, fans of various sorts, lights, occasional bath electric heat, washer frig, runs only about 35 per month average before the plug in. Hard to figure KW hours the way they do the bill. But next month will be a full tell on that. Checked I was using I think around 35 40 gals of gas which was around 36 or so MPG in my old car per month. So 70 80 USD. 1200 I would say is a average month probably. So 13 gals and whatever electric. Say it is 20 more electric. I save 22 to 27 gals of gas each month. 45 or 50 USD for 20 in electric.
Or very roughly 30 probably saved each month in fuel costs on a 1200 miles per month average. With gas around 2 per gal with my discount. 2 fill ups around 6 or 7gals each, as opposed to four.
Winter heater and all and I warm the car up, new car, snows, I guess mileage will increase. Prime mileage my last new car Subaru took several thousand to realize. Did not realize peak till around 30k or so.
Was cruising in EV today at 80 MPH. Seems speed really does not push one out of EV. Like sport much better for the going back up the hills and with the sharp turns. More responsive and you feel the car more. Acceleration it stays in EV as well unless I guess I would really stomp on it. Getting on the freeway a almost dead stop a left turn up a hill and to speed checked today it was all EV. No problem 65 when merging. In sport it is mostly ICE with some EV. Strong acceleration would be all ICE in sport. Seems all ICE perhaps EV kicks in as well, don't know on that.
Even zero miles left in EV it runs in ev quite often for short periods. Probably the regeneration. In sport EV charging is much faster on the road.
Click to expand...
 
This is similar with my experience without doing as much EV charging as Ron. I'll keep better track going into winter here this year.
 
ron in new mexico said:
Snow tried it out this morning. Pretty good no problems, slippery unplowed 2-4 inches. Snow tires and wheels already on.
Click to expand...
Do you have TPMS sensors on your new winter wheels? Do you have to register the TPMS sensors every time you swap and do you need to go to dealer for that or do you have some device to do it? Doesnt seem in the manual you can just press a few buttons like my wifes Mini to register any new set of sensors on the car.
 
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