Kia Niro EV - new owner in the U.S.

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evrock said:
did you figure it out yet? mine is doing the same thing. It seems like it's coming from this circular canister that is mounted behind what looks like the ecu on the dirver's side under the hood. I'll try to take a picture of it later.
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Is this noise kind of a hissing sound? I recently bought a Niro EV. With the windows down I can hear a hissing noise coming from underneath somewhere. It gets slightly louder as I speed up or as I let off the pedal and regenerative braking kicks in. I only notice it under 30 or 40mph. After that road noise drowns it out. Is anyone else hearing a hissing noise?
 
Just curious, how much range does the car show on the dashboard when full. I know the specs say 239 miles, but what does yours actually display when fully charged?
 
David Branum said:
Just curious, how much range does the car show on the dashboard when full. I know the specs say 239 miles, but what does yours actually display when fully charged?
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Depends....right now, if I start the car up and it's 90 degrees out, I get 275 miles, but if I turn the climate off, it reads 292. If I put it in Eco mode too, it shows 299.
 
evrock said:
did you figure it out yet? mine is doing the same thing. It seems like it's coming from this circular canister that is mounted behind what looks like the ecu on the dirver's side under the hood. I'll try to take a picture of it later.
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Since we all have the sound, im not concerned.
 
David Branum said:
Just curious, how much range does the car show on the dashboard when full. I know the specs say 239 miles, but what does yours actually display when fully charged?
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I very seldom fully charge but we frequently see 280+ when we charge to 80%.

The range on the dash will vary with the temperature and your driving habits (so where I primarily do higher speed highway miles, use eco, and rarely turn on the climate control I will see very different numbers than someone in city traffic, using climate control, and normal mode).
 
Thanks for sharing. That makes sense for my car then. We've had it about a month. The first couple of weeks of charging we always kept it in eco mode and it would reach 314 miles when fully charged. That was all city driving. Then I took a road trip and the range at full started dropping, 295, then 275 the next charge. I was concerned there was something wrong with the battery. I knew temperature plays a role and suspected the car factored my driving habits into it, but when I asked the dealership they weren't very helpful. No one there really studied up on EVs yet. This last time I charged up I reached 290, so maybe it's going back normal. I'll start charging to just 80%. That's better for the life of the battery, right? I only read about that recently. Thanks again
 
David Branum said:
Thanks for sharing. That makes sense for my car then. We've had it about a month. The first couple of weeks of charging we always kept it in eco mode and it would reach 314 miles when fully charged. That was all city driving. Then I took a road trip and the range at full started dropping, 295, then 275 the next charge. I was concerned there was something wrong with the battery. I knew temperature plays a role and suspected the car factored my driving habits into it, but when I asked the dealership they weren't very helpful. No one there really studied up on EVs yet. This last time I charged up I reached 290, so maybe it's going back normal. I'll start charging to just 80%. That's better for the life of the battery, right? I only read about that recently. Thanks again
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The Niro is our second EV (we also own a 2017 Leaf). Yes, charging only occasionally to full is supposed to be better for the battery (we usually try to discard to single digit percentage once a month and then charge to full to let it get a nice cycle/balance in). Elevation changes (because of drag), load, speed, temperature, driving style (i.e. agressing throttle/braking), etc. are all factors on range (but that it true for ICE or EV). I would say your battery sounds completely normal to me.
 
Purchased a base level Niro EV on May 15, so just about a month. I replaced a 2015 Jetta hybrid, which replaced a 2013 Jetta diesel which I had to give back after 70k miles. So 107k for both car gave me a per mile cost of $ .31 including depreciation, gas, insurance, and gas.

Based on what I paid, my trade, and the tax credits, If I keep the car for 80,000 miles,I will have a lower per mile cost with the Niro EV.

I am retired, have solar PV which gives me all my electric, a Tesla power wall leased 14k battery, upgrade insulation and windows, so and electric car would be the next step.

If i bought a tesla, it would have to be the dual motor, because real wheel drive would make it up hill. Front wheel drive with studs will.
In a period of three weeks looked at the Kona and that seemed possible, but I wanted the battery heater and heat pump which they sell in Canada. Vermont is close, could have joined Canada at, well that is another story.

Decided to look at Leaf. Liked pro pilot but the battery passive cooling slowed me down. Then, the Kia Niro arrived, but not in Vermont or New Hamphire. I tired to go to the dealer in MA, but the cars were really to be shown, so went to NY and drove it and like and put down a small deposit to hold.

The following week, I went to the MA dealer just to drive it again, and see if I could get a bike rack on it. Since I was trading the VW, I got into price discussions with both dealers which involved a discount off list plus the trade and the Ma dealer won. Could not justify the premium edition

So I have driven 1300 miles at an average mile per Kwh of 4.67, which translates to 156 MPGe. Keep speed on the interstate to 65, except when I am in urban areas, and the I drive with the traffic. Still figuring the car out, spend a lot of time thinking about range and how to charge the battery and to what level. Utility is providing an 220 charger which they have the option to control at peak time for no money.
 
I am so happy I found this thread! I am really excited to buy one of these - I'm like a child, totally obsessed. We're a little north of Seattle and I was all ready to go and buy one when I heard that WA state was going to offer another $2,500 off on the 6.4% sales tax, so combining that with the federal tax break will give me $10K off of whatever price they will charge me to buy it. I have only gone to 1 dealership so far since I have to wait until 8/1 for the tax break to kick in. I did not test drive, but I did sit in one for a minute to check out the trim and it looked fine to me. The seat seemed very comfortable and I have always considered comfort to be pretty important, especially when going for long drives. Didn't see the cool holographic door thing - a lot of the interior seems to be that piano finish like a computer might have, so hopefully it won't show all my grubby paw prints after a day.

I will be able to retire in 1 year and we want an EV to do some light road tripping. We have a place in E. WA, about 300 miles away. It is an interesting drive, you travel over the Cascades and there are several other smaller grades such as when you cross the Columbia River. About half of the drive will be through the desert with temps reaching 100 degrees in the summer. With the nifty link the OP provided it mapped a nice route for me which was what I'd already anticipated - a charge mid-way will get me there and then I can recharge fully at my destination. We would then like to use the vehicle to do day trips to dozens of bucket list destinations in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. I was even wondering if I could tow a 1,500 lb. pop up trailer with it, but perhaps that's best left to an ICE? In any case, I am hopeful this will be the last car I ever buy and that my beneficiaries will be able to drive it to 500,000 miles or more.

For now, I am heads down trying to learn all these EV things. How to charge it for optimum battery life, where's the juice along I-90, ChaDEMO, J1772, CCS SAE, it's mind boggling. At first I was leaning towards the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus because, after all, Nissan has been at it a little longer than Kia. And when my daughter bought a Kia in the 90's they were really just crap cars, so there was a stigma in my mind against Kia & Hyundai. Now as I read more about the batteries though it seems that having an active cooling system (and warming in the winter) is a pretty important feature, especially in the way I intend to use the car. Plus the Niro EV looks cool. It's more like a "regular car" save for the funky blue trim pieces. And it has a great warranty and it has slightly better range, so I'm pretty serious now about getting a Niro, or possibly the Soul or a Kona Electric. Only seeing very positive reviews on the Niro and although it costs about $2,500 to $3,000 more than a Leaf Plus, I'm willing to go a little higher to get what I want/need.

The main thing now will be trying to weigh which dealership I should go to? Since we're living in the shadow of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google tech companies, pricing is unlikely to be negotiable. I see about $1,500 difference between my hometown dealership who is higher than some that are down south so hoping that I can use that to negotiate because I liked the fellow I talked to at the dealership that I visited. I am wondering if Kia will have any special deals when 8/1 rolls around or if competition will be tight as others decide to make the plunge? I would like to get some additional dealer discounts or else 0% financing for 48 months to sweeten the deal.

One thing that has crossed my mind though is that with active cooling and 12V batteries and regenerative braking, that an EV won't be totally maintenance free. Does anyone have any idea how often you would need to have coolant changes and the like? Aside from that though, there should not be much to maintain, right?
 
TheHellYouSay said:
I am so happy I found this thread! I am really excited to buy one of these - I'm like a child, totally obsessed. We're a little north of Seattle and I was all ready to go and buy one when I heard that WA state was going to offer another $2,500 off on the 6.4% sales tax, so combining that with the federal tax break will give me $10K off of whatever price they will charge me to buy it. I have only gone to 1 dealership so far since I have to wait until 8/1 for the tax break to kick in. I did not test drive, but I did sit in one for a minute to check out the trim and it looked fine to me. The seat seemed very comfortable and I have always considered comfort to be pretty important, especially when going for long drives. Didn't see the cool holographic door thing - a lot of the interior seems to be that piano finish like a computer might have, so hopefully it won't show all my grubby paw prints after a day.

I will be able to retire in 1 year and we want an EV to do some light road tripping. We have a place in E. WA, about 300 miles away. It is an interesting drive, you travel over the Cascades and there are several other smaller grades such as when you cross the Columbia River. About half of the drive will be through the desert with temps reaching 100 degrees in the summer. With the nifty link the OP provided it mapped a nice route for me which was what I'd already anticipated - a charge mid-way will get me there and then I can recharge fully at my destination. We would then like to use the vehicle to do day trips to dozens of bucket list destinations in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. I was even wondering if I could tow a 1,500 lb. pop up trailer with it, but perhaps that's best left to an ICE? In any case, I am hopeful this will be the last car I ever buy and that my beneficiaries will be able to drive it to 500,000 miles or more.

For now, I am heads down trying to learn all these EV things. How to charge it for optimum battery life, where's the juice along I-90, ChaDEMO, J1772, CCS SAE, it's mind boggling. At first I was leaning towards the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus because, after all, Nissan has been at it a little longer than Kia. And when my daughter bought a Kia in the 90's they were really just crap cars, so there was a stigma in my mind against Kia & Hyundai. Now as I read more about the batteries though it seems that having an active cooling system (and warming in the winter) is a pretty important feature, especially in the way I intend to use the car. Plus the Niro EV looks cool. It's more like a "regular car" save for the funky blue trim pieces. And it has a great warranty and it has slightly better range, so I'm pretty serious now about getting a Niro, or possibly the Soul or a Kona Electric. Only seeing very positive reviews on the Niro and although it costs about $2,500 to $3,000 more than a Leaf Plus, I'm willing to go a little higher to get what I want/need.

The main thing now will be trying to weigh which dealership I should go to? Since we're living in the shadow of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google tech companies, pricing is unlikely to be negotiable. I see about $1,500 difference between my hometown dealership who is higher than some that are down south so hoping that I can use that to negotiate because I liked the fellow I talked to at the dealership that I visited. I am wondering if Kia will have any special deals when 8/1 rolls around or if competition will be tight as others decide to make the plunge? I would like to get some additional dealer discounts or else 0% financing for 48 months to sweeten the deal.

One thing that has crossed my mind though is that with active cooling and 12V batteries and regenerative braking, that an EV won't be totally maintenance free. Does anyone have any idea how often you would need to have coolant changes and the like? Aside from that though, there should not be much to maintain, right?
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Actually because of regen braking, you have less brake replacement. We had a 10 year old Fusion Hybrid (now our college daughter's car) and only had half the brakes replace at 150,000 miles (and the other half are still going strong at 160,000). The vehicle will want to capture power first using the regen system before it engages the brakes (the times it actually engages are when you drop so slow that it can not recapture and when you have to break hard). 12V batteries are pretty much the same as they are in your ICE, yes, eventually they need replaced but they are just the same 12v so it's not a big deal. In 2 years with our Leaf, we have added wiper fluid, changed the cabin air filter (did that ourselves), and had the tires rotated (plus the free yearly battery health check up at the dealership but that hardly counts since it is free).

As for which vehicle, here are a few of the factors that lead us to the Niro EV over the Kona or Leaf Plus.

Leaf - We already own a 2017 Leaf and love it We could have easily bought one of those locally but rapidgate is real. Even here in Ohio, we have found the passive cooling to be problematic. We wanted a second EV that could be our long distance vehicle. We took a roadtrip in our Leaf once. We drove from Columbus to Cleveland (which because of the speed on the highway and distance meant we would need 2 fast charges). It was 40 degrees out and by the time made it to our destination after that many highway miles and those 2 fast charges, the battery temperature gauge was indicating it was hot. There is no way we would be able to make that drive in the summer without taking back roads for less speed and finding slower charging. And the thought of that being our long range vehicle too was just a plain and simple no. The Leaf is our favorite commuter car ever and we love Watson (yes, we named him, lol) but we can't see a Leaf being anything more than a local/commuter car in our lives.

Kona - As I mentioned, we live in Ohio. We aren't a ZEV state and have no chance of seeing a Kona EV at any local dealerships in the foreseeable future. So we did the next best thing and dropped by the local auto show to see a regular Kona. It's a tight fit. I am 5'10" and my husband is 6'2". Neither of us liked the way we sat in it and even a bigger deal breaker, with the seat back so we could be in driving position, the rear seat was unusable. Now we are empty nesters, we don't often have people in the backseat but when we do I sure don't want to have to fold them up like a pretzel to get them in. We read and watched a lot of videos to make sure that we weren't mistaken and that the EV wasn't somehow more Tardis like (magically bigger on the inside) but everyone agreed that it was a little snug. Plus we noticed that the winter package didn't seem to be available as often and after having the Leaf for 2 Ohio winters we know that range loss happens so we wanted to have that option easily available.

Enter the Niro. With active battery management and better leg room for the folks in my family, we felt it just fit better. Add to it that we found the winter package easily. And the guess-o-meter (range gauge) is far more accurate than our Leaf so that has been a huge bonus.

Obviously that is just my take on all this and you might come to a completely different conclusion but I thought I would toss the info out there for you.
 
Hello everyone! My husband and I bought a niro EV in May. We are currently on the return trip to Chattanooga from Denver. On the way to Denver we drove through Nebraska but are returning through Kansas, which has fewer level 3 chargers. We are in Kansas now and all has been well except that when driving from Hays to Topeka we suddenly started losing miles quickly. We chalk it up to hot weather, wind and hilly highway. We slowly closed the gap between the miles remaining and miles to the next level 3 charger and had to stop in manthattan ks to do a level 2 charge bc we didn’t think we would make it to Topeka. We have 2 kids and hanging out on the side of the highway in 85 degree weather while waiting for a tow truck didn’t sound like much fun. So today will be a very long day I’m afraid. But such is life for EV owners who aren’t Tesla owners I guess!

BTW I notice that hissing sound on our car too but my husband doesn’t hear it due to our screaming children ruining his hearing. :p
 
Dominica81 said:
Hello everyone! My husband and I bought a niro EV in May. We are currently on the return trip to Chattanooga from Denver. On the way to Denver we drove through Nebraska but are returning through Kansas, which has fewer level 3 chargers. We are in Kansas now and all has been well except that when driving from Hays to Topeka we suddenly started losing miles quickly. We chalk it up to hot weather, wind and hilly highway. We slowly closed the gap between the miles remaining and miles to the next level 3 charger and had to stop in manthattan ks to do a level 2 charge bc we didn’t think we would make it to Topeka. We have 2 kids and hanging out on the side of the highway in 85 degree weather while waiting for a tow truck didn’t sound like much fun. So today will be a very long day I’m afraid. But such is life for EV owners who aren’t Tesla owners I guess!

BTW I notice that hissing sound on our car too but my husband doesn’t hear it due to our screaming children ruining his hearing. :p
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Sorry to hear about the extra time spent charging. The situation will only get better, though, as more DC fast charger get installed. :)

But congrats on the new car!
 
Dominica81 said:
Hello everyone! My husband and I bought a niro EV in May. We are currently on the return trip to Chattanooga from Denver. On the way to Denver we drove through Nebraska but are returning through Kansas, which has fewer level 3 chargers. We are in Kansas now and all has been well except that when driving from Hays to Topeka we suddenly started losing miles quickly. We chalk it up to hot weather, wind and hilly highway. We slowly closed the gap between the miles remaining and miles to the next level 3 charger and had to stop in manthattan ks to do a level 2 charge bc we didn’t think we would make it to Topeka. We have 2 kids and hanging out on the side of the highway in 85 degree weather while waiting for a tow truck didn’t sound like much fun. So today will be a very long day I’m afraid. But such is life for EV owners who aren’t Tesla owners I guess!

BTW I notice that hissing sound on our car too but my husband doesn’t hear it due to our screaming children ruining his hearing. :p
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Congrats on the Niro EV. :)

Temperature extremes, wind, and elevation changes definitely are factors (and of course highway speed plays in too). We have found that if we use a combination of Plugshare and ABetterRoutePlanner.com (which takes in to account many factors like speed, elevation, temperature, etc for planning a route though their chargers data isn't as complete hence why we use Plugshare in conjunction), we can usually plan ahead and avoid the major pitfalls.

Good for you for having a good attitude about needing to find a L2 along the route. Hopefully you had a nice break to stretch your legs and were able to successfully finish the remainder of your drive.
 
This thread started with TandM extolling the vitures of their new Niro, including its thermal battery management system. Could I ask: Is this system present on all Niro EVs or just with the $1080 “winter package” that was included on TandM’s car (as shown on their window sticker)?
 
PAC said:
This thread started with TandM extolling the vitures of their new Niro, including its thermal battery management system. Could I ask: Is this system present on all Niro EVs or just with the $1080 “winter package” that was included on TandM’s car (as shown on their window sticker)?
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The good news is -- the battery's active cooling components (fans, etc.) are included with all the Niro EV models, making it one of the reasons we chose the Niro over other vehicles to begin with.

The extra "Winter Package" includes a Battery Heater and a Heat Pump for more efficient cold-weather cabin comfort, and gives us the ability to enable "Winter Mode" in the EV Settings menu of the Nav unit for normalizing the battery temperature for driving and charging performance in cold temperatures. The package isn't necessary if you live where the climate stays warmer in Winter. If your temperatures go below freezing, it's a good idea to make sure you get the package and remember to turn it on. Winter mode is off by default. I have to wonder if the car will give us some sort of a reminder once the weather gets colder.
 
Thanks for the explanation. I live in Vermont so I’ll definitely be looking for the winter package! The more I learn about this car, the more it sounds like the only EV for me!
 
Got a new Kia Niro EV EX Premium about two weeks ago. Overall, I'm liking it. In city driving, I'm getting about 300 miles of range (always in Eco mode, with moderate use of AC). I have some minor complaints (e.g., aspects of the user interface, some dashboard rattle, lack of a weather gasket and better caps for the plug enclosure, the obnoxious on/off chime that you can't change or disable). My only major complaint, so far, is the perplexing decision to have the top regenerative braking setting (Level 3) too weak to stop the car. A software update to allow for the option of true one-pedal driving would significantly improve my satisfaction with the car.
 
laughingwell said:
If you want to stop the car with regen braking, hold the left paddle. It will stop the car and hold it (with your foot remaining off the brake pedal).
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Yes, I realize that's an option. Having to fiddle with the flappy-paddle doesn't make for true one-pedal driving, though. By the time Level 3 has the car creeping along for a California stop, there's not enough energy to be recaptured to warrant pulling the paddle, rather than just stepping on the brake (which is more reliable and predictable than the left paddle stopping, in any event).
 
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