Founder of @eveecars, Slava Kozlovskii lives in Canberra and yesterday spotted an unreleased EV, which is obviously exciting for a market like Australia which is crying out for more electric vehicle choices.
This is a Kia Niro EV which as of right now is not available for sale and what we believe is the first in Australia. The new electric vehicle was caught charging at the SG Fleet charger in Canberra. From the number plates, we can tell the car is registered in New South Wales.
When it comes to the design of the car, it’s not particularly futuristic, which for some people I guess makes for an easy transition from what they know to a vehicle with a completely different drivetrain.
The wheels are clearly designed with range in mind, with a now common focus on aerodynamics and I think Kia have done a good job at resolving these.
As we come around the front the headlights are really long, extending almost to the top of the front wheel arches, but combine with fog lamps in the lower section of the front bar to create a unique look to the car. These arrow-shaped fog lights are separated by a blue accent, along with the surround of the front grill. I think this blue accent works far better with white, grey, black or blue paint, with the red and blue clashing, made worse in this instance by the bright yellow plate.
In terms of capabilities, the Kia Niro EV has a 64kWh battery with an estimated 450 kilometres of driving range. The acceleration won’t break any records with 0 to 100km/h taking around 7.8 seconds, however, the instant torque of an EV, should help this to feel snappy compared your average SUV today.
While we don’t have an official price, it is expected that Kia will price it around A$60k, making it competitive with the Hyundai Kona EV.
The front of the car features a CCS2 charge port, but Kia avoids the mistakes of the MG ZS EV and has a very simple, very accessible charge port.
The expectation is that the Kia Niro EV will go on sale in the first half of this year, which we are rapidly running out of.
