Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. Car News

2019 Kia Niro EV electric car offers 239 miles of range for $39,495

By

2019 Kia Niro EVThe Kia Niro is already available as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid, but now Kia is going all the way with electrification. After a concept-car tease at CES 2018 and an overseas unveiling, the all-electric 2019 Kia Niro EV made its United States debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show and will hit showrooms soon. The base EX trim level will start at $39,495 (including a mandatory $995 destination charge), or $31,995 after the federal tax credit. Kia will also offer a fancier Niro EV EX Premium trim level starting at $44,995 before the tax credit, and $37,495 after it.

Kia calls the Niro a crossover, but the vehicle lacks some key crossover qualities. The Niro has a tall roof but a low overall height, and all versions (including the Niro EV) lack all-wheel drive (they are front-wheel drive only). It’s a bit confusing, but not surprising. Crossovers are incredibly popular right now, so it’s easy to see why Kia used that label to attempt to increase the Niro’s appeal.

Recommended Videos

The Niro shares the same basic platform as the Hyundai Ioniq, which is also available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all-electric flavors. The Niro EV’s electric motor produces 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque and draws power from a 64-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The same setup will be used in the upcoming 2020 Kia Soul EV. Kia estimates range at 239 miles.

Related

The Niro EV comes standard with a Combined Charging Standard (CCS) DC fast-charging system that can recharge the battery pack to 80% capacity in 75 minutes, or add 100 miles of range in 30 minutes, according to Kia. Charging from a more common Level 2 AC source takes substantially longer, at 9.5 hours for a full charge.

Aside from the all-electric powertrain, the Niro EV is similar to the other versions of Kia’s pseudo crossover. So the base Niro EV gets a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a host of driver aids including adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and blind spot monitoring. The EX Premium model adds features like leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, an 8-inch touchscreen with navigation, wireless phone charging, and an upgraded audio system.

The 2019 Kia Niro EV is priced $1,500 higher than the Hyundai Kona Electric, making it the most expensive electric car from the Korean company (assuming the 2020 Soul EV won’t be pricier). The Kona does boast more range, at 258 miles, but it’s only available in California at the moment.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV has a lower base price ($37,495), but its tax credit has been reduced to $3,750, making the Niro EV cheaper once credits are applied. The Bolt EV also doesn’t get standard DC fast charging, and its range is one mile shy of the Niro’s. The Nissan Leaf e+ only offers 226 miles of range, but it’s a bit cheaper than the Kia. The Nissan starts at $37,445 before the federal tax credit, and the price drops to $29,995 once the credit is applied.

Updated on May 2, 2019: Added pricing and range.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Stephen Edelstein
Stephen Edelstein
Contributing Editor
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Sports fans, this is why the new Apple CarPlay update is a must
CarPlay on iOS 18.4.

Apple has rolled out iOS 18.4 and now comes the latest updates to Apple CarPlay, including sport support.

While there are several new features, including a third row of icons on a larger display, and default navigation app choices for the EU, it's the sports apps that jump out.

Read more
Polestar 2 gets an audio upgrade from Bowers & Wilkins
2026 Polestar 2

There will soon be a new model of the popular Polestar 2 EV on its way, as the Swedish company has announced a 2026 update that will first be available in Europe before rolling out to other locations throughout this year. The 2026 Polestar 2 sees a new audio system and an upgraded infotainment system, plus a new battery which can be charged faster.

The audio system comes from Bowers & Wilkins, and can be added as an optional upgrade consisting of 14 speakers places throughout the car for a total output of 1,350 Watts. Audio enthusiasts will enjoy extra audio features like "Tweeter-on-Top technology" for better audio clarity, and speakers designed to minimize distortion.

Read more
Rivian set to unlock unmapped roads for Gen2 vehicles
rivian unmapped roads gen2 r1t gallery image 0

Rivian fans rejoice! Just a few weeks ago, Rivian rolled out automated, hands-off driving for its second-gen R1 vehicles with a game-changing software update. Yet, the new feature, which is only operational on mapped highways, had left many fans craving for more.
Now the company, which prides itself on listening to - and delivering on - what its customers want, didn’t wait long to signal a ‘map-free’ upgrade will be available later this year.
“One feedback we’ve heard loud and clear is that customers love [Highway Assist] but they want to use it in more places,” James Philbin, Rivian VP of autonomy, said on the podcast RivianTrackr Hangouts. “So that’s something kind of exciting we’re working on, we’re calling it internally ‘Map Free’, that we’re targeting for later this year.”
The lag between the release of Highway Assist (HWA) and Map Free automated driving gives time for the fleet of Rivian vehicles to gather ‘unique events’. These events are used to train Rivian’s offline model in the cloud before data is distilled back to individual vehicles.
As Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe explained in early March, HWA marked the very beginning of an expanding automated-driving feature set, “going from highways to surface roads, to turn-by-turn.”
For now, HWA still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road. The system will send alerts if you drift too long without paying attention. But stay tuned—eyes-off driving is set for 2026.
It’s also part of what Rivian calls its “Giving you your time back” philosophy, the first of three pillars supporting Rivian’s vision over the next three to five years. Philbin says that philosophy is focused on “meeting drivers where they are”, as opposed to chasing full automation in the way other automakers, such as Tesla’s robotaxi, might be doing.
“We recognize a lot of people buy Rivians to go on these adventures, to have these amazing trips. They want to drive, and we want to let them drive,” Philbin says. “But there’s a lot of other driving that’s very monotonous, very boring, like on the highway. There, giving you your time back is how we can give the best experience.”
This will also eventually lead to the third pillar of Rivian’s vision, which is delivering Level 4, or high-automation vehicles: Those will offer features such as auto park or auto valet, where you can get out of your Rivian at the office, or at the airport, and it goes off and parks itself.
While not promising anything, Philbin says he believes the current Gen 2 hardware and platforms should be able to support these upcoming features.
The second pillar for Rivian is its focus on active safety features, as the EV-maker rewrote its entire autonomous vehicle (AV) system for its Gen2 models. This focus allowed Rivian’s R1T to be the only large truck in North America to get a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“I believe there’s a lot of innovation in the active safety space, in terms of making those features more capable and preventing more accidents,” Philbin says. “Really the goal, the north star goal, would be to have Rivian be one of the safest vehicles on the road, not only for the occupants but also for other road users.”

Read more