Driving Experience
The family-sized kia inero is the most complete affordable electric vehicle we’ve seen to date key to its appeal is the kind of driving range you’d expect from a much larger full electric car wltp rated at miles plus it’s practical well-equipped and easy to adapt to there are certainly cheaper ev options in this sector but we’re not sure that there are any better
Ones like most evs this one spears away from rest with almost hot hatch style urgency though in this case kia has engineered in a split second of delay between throttle application and power delivery to make the whole experience feel slightly more combustion-like and linear 60 miles an hour from rest still only occupies a mere seven and a half seconds though thanks
To a 395 newton meter talk figure generated by the 201 bhp electric motor every bit of which is delivered to you right from the get-go rather than building as it would with a fossil fuel power plant it’s all mated to a larger capacity battery pack than you’d normally find in an affordable family ev a 64 kilowatt-hour unit that delivers an impressive wltp rated
Driving range of 282 miles that sets a new standard amongst affordable evs conserving that driving range requires careful management of the energy regenerative process that kicks in when you come off the throttle like some other evs this one provides you with paddle shifters behind the steering wheel that allow you to either intensify or reduce the regenerative
Braking feel alternatively there’s an auto setting that constantly calculates the optimum level of braking regeneration based on the positioning of vehicles ahead there’s also a virtual engine sound system for creating artificial noise to warm those on the pavement of your approach in urban areas on the open road this car struggles a little bit with weight it’s
Nearly half a ton heavier than an equivalently sized combustion engine family hatch but the even distribution of the battery pack across the floor plan helps with handling and a more advanced independent rear suspension setup has allowed the engineers to deliver a decent quality of ride as usual with an ev you get plenty of cabin screen options to allow you to
Plan your route around your available remaining charge when it’s depleted you’ll be able to recharge your e-nero to 80 percent of capacity in just 75 minutes if you can find a 50 kilowatt dc ccs charging point most of the time though you’ll be charging this kia overnight using a 7.2 kilowatt ev supply wall box you’ll have to pay a little extra to get installed in
Your garage you can revive the sales from empty in this way in around nine and a half hours which would use around nine pounds worth of electricity at current rates if when you’re out and about you’re fortunate enough to find a 50 kilowatt dc fast charger you’ll be able to recharge the car from empty to 80 percent of capacity in just an hour and a quarter in kia
Range terms the nero’s 4.37 meter length positions it somewhere between a focus size seed family hatch and a kashkai-style mid-sized sportage suv the car is normally an suv in this case kia prefers the term crossover hence the chunky stance the integrated roof rails and muscular wheel arches that house large 17-inch diamond cut two-tone aluminium rims conventional
Looking evs are often compromised in their basic design by the need in other forms to accommodate a bulky combustion engine but all nero variants feature electrification to some extent and the priority with this one was to incorporate its bulky battery pack in a way that had as little impact as possible on cabin space have the designers manage that time to take a
Look inside at the wheel key change lies with the installation of this rotary gear selector dial for the single speed auto gearbox this frees up this useful extra lidded storage space between heated powered and leather upholstered front seats that have been redesigned to save space and weight more subtle differences can be found incorporated into this 8-inch center
Dash infotainment touchscreen which allows you to locate nearby charging points and set departure times to preheat and pre-cool the cabin this display also has all the usual connectivity and entertainment features too of course so there’s navigation voice control apple carplay or android auto smartphone mirroring bluetooth and an eight speaker 320 watt jbl premium
Sound system with a dab tuner plus you get the full suite of kia connected services most other key functions are covered off by the instrument display you view through the leather stitched three spoke steering wheel this cluster incorporating a mixture of circular led dials and a central seven inch lcd screen right time to take a look in the rear back seat
Space is probably the biggest difference between this car and its hyundai kona electric cousin which offers a significantly smaller rear compartment with 90 millimeters less leg space perhaps just as significant is the fact that this inero offers slightly more rear passenger room the most more affordable conventional c-segment family suvs kia’s mid-sized sportage
Crossover for instance which may be lengthier externally but has a wheelbase 30 millimeters shorter you’ll even fit in three adults back here slightly more easily than would be the case with most similarly sized rival models that’s thanks to the way that the relatively wide 1805 millimeter body provides 1 402 millimeters of shoulder room we’ll finish with a look
At the boot swing up the large tailgate and you’ll find a very generously proportioned boot that’s usefully square in shape and 451 liters in size which is 69 liters more than you get on the self-charging hybrid variant and a massive 127 liters more than is offered by the phev nero model that’s better than you get from most family hatchbacks and pretty close to
The luggage capacity you’d enjoy with a conventionally engined family suv let’s make this as clear as it can possibly be on paper the e nero makes more sense than any other compact family-sized electric car the only two models that can match this contender’s driving range hyundai’s kona electric and kia’s soul ev need the same power train to do so but package it
In a much smaller body shell that isn’t really family sized the e nero isn’t huge inside either but it’ll be big enough for most buyers otherwise the problems here are those that afflict all evs a restricted public charging infrastructure the need for off-street parking and of course an ultimate restriction in driving range the latter issue used to be the killer
Problem for most would-be ev buyers being able in this one to say drive from london to sunderland without a stop should make a big difference here but of course electric vehicle ownership is all about suitability for frequent shorter trips and in this regard to an e nero is difficult to better as a result if kia could make it more affordable and sell it in greater
Numbers we think it could have a huge market impact as it is though this cart will remain a rare but clever choice amongst family buyers who’ve really done their homework and when we look back in a decade’s time at evs that really changed their market we think this will be one of them you
Transcribed from video
Kia eNiro – Electric Dreams By First Vehicle Finance Ltd
