Niro EV Lane Following Assist (LFA)

I think it works well. There are times when the lines aren't real clear that the car seems challenged to find the center of the lane, but for the most part, I think it works great. I think it's a good first step towards self-driving cars, I like that it doesn't "fight me" if I feel like it's over or under correcting.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy driving this car because the LFA (or LKA?) and the automatic regeneration capabilities make driving easier and cheaper as the car is always squeezing a few more miles out with it's efficient use of regen when I'm in Auto Regen mode.

 

Ditto!

 

This is my second Kia with the LFA and I love it. Besides sometimes getting the annoying chime when driving on country roads, it helps make my drive more enjoyable. Every once in a while the car will jerk one way or another if the lines aren't super clear, but other then that it's been rock solid.

 

works pretty well. Gives the wheel a little nudge if my attention wanders. It definitely loses track sometimes, but it is better than not having it.


My favorite feature by FAR is smart cruise control. I had no idea how much mental energy it takes to navigate stop and go traffic until I did not have to put any energy into it anymore. Car seems less efficient than if I am driving it. Does SCC bypass regenerative braking?

 

'Ehh'

IT gets lost once in a while, and the system has difficulty with cars exiting the highway, it can slam on the brakes for no reason
It seems fine on better quality roads with[I guess] good lines.
But still a tad wandery for my liking
I wish it would learn Boston traffic rules. IE 20 feet of space is pleeeeeeeeeenty at 60 mph......

 

I had to turn off the LFA during the winter because I couldn't differentiate between LFA and the tires slipping on icy roads.

 

I can't or have not yet found a way to turn on cruise control without it starting LFA. I wish they were separate functions.

 

It might be different in Canada, but for my US 2020 Niro EV Premium you can turn off LFA in the driver assist menu, which is under the user settings menu.

 

Thanks ... I'll try to find that

 

I turn mine off, it's too invasive, I have to fight it as it tends to "ping-pong" Our 2021 Sorento's LKA is WAAAY better.

 

I like to use it in stop and go traffic. I don't use it in normal highway conditions because it seems to hit my efficiency substantially. Tried it some on surface streets, and was too cautious for my tastes.

 

I think some of the replies above are about Lane Keep Assist (lanes icon). I like that and keep it on all the time. It's a nice backup in case I have a lapse in attention, and I feel like it helps avoid lapses in attention by giving little nudges as I drive.

But I don't like the Lane Follow Assist (steering wheel icon), which I think is supposed to be more like automated steering. I haven't been able to give it control for more than a few seconds because it veers uncomfortably close to the lane lines on either side. If it doesn't cause a crash, it would probably get me pulled over for drunk driving. I'm surprised it doesn't work better, because it seems like it would use the same sensors and other technology as Lane Keep Assist, just with different rules to be more assertive or proactive in keeping the car within the lane lines. Aside from an occasional experiment when there aren't other cars around, I've had to leave it turned off.

 

I like Lane Follow Assist (LFA), but I don't use Smart Cruise Control very often in Seattle area traffic. It's really nice for freeway driving because it will do the turns on the interstate just fine, although, I don't really let my car drive itself, that'd be crazy!

I was searching the manual this morning for the word "assist" and it is there numerous timed. Just read about high beam assist, which I don't even know if I have it, so now I have to go test that out. With all the assist features it gets complicated in a hurry. I have to admit that I didn't figure out a lot of things, like LFA activation being dependent on SCC being in play, until I'd driven the car for a few weeks.

 

I've used it a bit. I don't think the intent is for you to give it control - I think it will just subtly correct your steering if you venture too close to the line during your normal driving.

 

I just used it on a major interstate and to be honest it freaked me out. Coming to rely on it seems like a recipe for disaster, but combined with the front distance cruise control (or whatever it's called, the thing that keeps you from getting to close to the car in front) it was kind of alarming. Like I was more worried about monitoring those things than if I was just driving normally. It got kind of alarmed when I exited, like it wanted to stop me.

 

I don't know how long you've driven your Niro, but I think after a while, you'll come to appreciate these features. For what it's worth, I drive mine in Eco mode nearly all the time, but the regenerative braking is set to Auto. When I start driving I will automatically turn regeneration back from one to zero (but still in Auto mode) so the car coasts freely. For whatever reason, the menus won't let you start the car with Regen = 0, so I just got in the habit of shutting it off with the paddles once I notice.

What has been confusing to me is that the Lane Follow Assist (semi automatic steering) is only turned on when you're using cruise control, but the "braking when you get too close" thing is on all the time, at least in the mode I'm in? And that part I like. A lot. I like that as I'm coming to a stop the car is trying to squeeze some juice out of that energy as efficiently as it can, then I just have to apply the brakes, like super softly, at the very end of the stop. I find it annoying now to drive my ICE cars because it's all up to me to "feather the brakes" so that my passengers aren't lurching forward. Having said all that about recouping energy, I don't know how people could drive around with regen on 3, it would have to be very stop-and-go traffic to make that even be tolerable.

 

There seems to be some misunderstanding in the posts about Lane keeping assist, Lane keeping assist doesn’t engage unless you are driving faster than 35 mph. That being said, I use smart cruise control constantly and I can’t imagine buying another car without the Niro EV’s capability as a minimum. The smart cruise control is one of the primary features that drove me to buy the Niro EV.

The Lane keeping assist works best on long trips. Lane keeping assist allows the driver to relax a little more and enjoy the scenery more. Lane keeping assist also allows momentary hands free driving where you can open a soda can or bite into a sandwich.

Smart cruise control takes a little getting use to but once you gain confidence in the system you will never want to be without it. I just proved that to myself when I had to take a company car on a long trip. I’m also sure we will be saying the same thing about fully autonomous systems within the next ten years.


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i drove from DC to basically the NC border, on I 95 and rural roads. I got to liking it more--the lane keeping assistance is a little odd but it works well. It's hard to have my hands on the wheel enough to not trigger the beep, but also not to feel a vague anxiety about the car having a mind of its own. I felt like it was too close to cars on the driver's side of the interstate. But I got more comfortable as time went on.

 

The default position appears to be toward the center of the road, particularly if the side stripe is faint. I have noticed what must be distortion through the windshield which makes passing vehicles appear closer, as if they're crossing my lane.

I no longer use it on local 40 mph roads as the safety braking is abrupt and too sensitive.