The Niro was never a strong contender for me mainly due to price. I just couldn’t understand why it cost so much more than something like the Bolt. Faster charging seemed like the main advantage, but that wasn’t an important factor to me at the time. 

I did end up test driving one. What I found most surprising was the size/shape. I’m not on board with the trend of car companies calling everything an “SUV” – let a hatchback be a hatchback. And an SUV the Kia Niro is not. Perhaps with the recent refresh that is more accurate, but the 2021 model sure seemed like a hatchback to me, or maybe even a wagon; the roof was so low. I was surprised to find the cargo area so low that again I wasn’t sure my dog would be able to fit back there. 

The rest of the car was a decent balance of pros and cons. One thing I really liked that I have not experienced in another car is that it gives an audible alert when you put your blinker on and someone is in your blind spot. Every other car I’ve driven just gives a visual indication, which I think is easier to miss. It was pretty comfortable and felt solid on the road. It was quick, but had some of the worst wheel spin of any car I drove – they really need to manage the torque better. I liked that it had several levels of regen-braking, but I really disliked that none of them offered one-pedal driving. 

All-in-all I think it would have been a really strong contender as an economy car, but the price never brought it down into that range for me.