It’s a hybrid and an SUV, and that makes it a big noise, worthy in some quarters (not these) of its own acronym – the Huv. I don’t see the point in principle of Kia’s Niro; anybody with any sense would hybrid innovate in this order: reduce kerb weight, then petrol dependence; boost efficiency any other way; make it look like the future. At Kia – and most other car companies – the new has been dutifully ushered in, but the old has not yet made way.
Whatever this car is, old-guard values are: people will like it if it’s higher off the ground. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: respectability hitches itself to a high-riding style, and suddenly you get into an SUV-ish car and you feel more respectable. It’s not a pricey vehicle, and feels more expensive than it is. Kia generally sets itself high drive standards, so you can have a cabin whose materials feel a bit cheap, but that won’t tell in a flaky or jittery drive. The Niro’s interior is unusually chic, with a lovely wide display, and intuitive controls. It has those hybrid graphics whose visual language nobody understands – arrows going into flows and bar charts going up and down. It makes you feel good, though; green and modern. The regenerative braking is satisfying on this score, giving you all kinds of subtle thumbs-ups on the screen, with no backchat in the drive.
Plus, as a family car – ie a place where a number of people have to be happy, rather than one person feeling like a winner – it has the lot. It has about 17 different places to put your drinks and snacks (I feel sure Jaffa Cakes are still turning up in ingenious places weeks later). In order to build up the height without getting too massive, they’ve truncated the length a bit, but I didn’t feel at all cramped, possibly because I didn’t go anywhere near the back seat. The boot is fine. The ride is smooth; it takes uneven surfaces with grace, goes where it’s told and accelerates with a Jeevesian obedience – it’s not sure you ought to be going at that speed, but of course it will deliver it for you.
I don’t really have one thing against it, except that it falls short of its own branded intent, to have “the power to surprise”. I suspect there is one guy going round all the car companies, flogging them variations on the same slogan, like Tony Hatch doing the theme tune for all soap operas. As very few Hondas harness the power of dreams, so very seldom does a Kia genuinely surprise. Yet you can have a lot of affection for the most predictable thing.
Kia Niro: in numbers
Price £22,795
Top speed 101mph
Acceleration 0-60mph in 11.1 seconds
Combined fuel consumption 74.3mpg
CO2 emissions 88g/km
Eco rating 9/10
Cool rating 5/10
