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The New 2023 Kia Niro EV Is New, Improved, and Futuristic — Transcript

by Doug DeMuro · 3,983 words · 564 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00This is the new Kia Niro EV, which is a
0:04fully electric small hatchback small
0:07crossover from Kia. There's already a
0:10Kia Niro EV, but this one has been fully
0:13redesigned for the 2023 model year. And
0:16today, I'm going to review the new Kia
0:19Niro EV and show you all of its quirks
0:22and features.
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1:24All right, I'm going to start the quirks
1:25and features of the new Niro EV with
1:28probably its largest quirk at least from
1:30a styling perspective, and that would be
1:32this gray panel back here, which
1:35obviously is a different color from the
1:37rest of the car. Now, I'm not sure if
1:38you can change this to match the color
1:40of the car, but every press image of the
1:42new Niro shows this panel in gray. Blue
1:45cars have a gray panel, green cars have
1:47a gray panel, white ones do. The panel
1:50is always gray. Now, this is certainly
1:53strange. I personally kind of like it
1:55cuz I like the quirky and weird stuff,
1:56but I can see it being a turn off for
1:58some people, and it's definitely
1:59distinctive on the outside of this car.
2:02Now, it's worth pointing out that aside
2:03from that unusual gray panel in back,
2:05the rest of the new Niro's design is
2:08actually pretty tame. Frankly, it looks
2:10a lot like the old Niro, which you can
2:12see here, just modernized, given sort of
2:14a more modern look with some sharper
2:17edges and creases, different lighting,
2:19different wheels, given a more modern
2:21take on the old Niro, essentially. Now,
2:23with that said, there are a couple of
2:25little items worth pointing out on the
2:27outside of this car, like for example,
2:28rear lighting. You have the brake lights
2:30in what looks like a fairly normal
2:31place, as you can see, sort of next to
2:33the tailgate in back, but the turn
2:35signals are in the bumper. They don't
2:37share a lighting assembly with the brake
2:39lights, which is uh kind of unusual and
2:41a little quirky. Up front, you have kind
2:44of a strange grille design. Obviously,
2:45this is just for style, since electric
2:47cars don't need a grille, but you have
2:48sort of weird lines and hexagons and
2:51strange shapes, and that's your grille.
2:53Also, just like the old Niro, the new
2:55one has the charge port directly in the
2:57center up front, which frankly I kind of
2:59like, because when you pull into a
3:01charging station, it's off on the left
3:02or the right, you don't know which it's
3:03going to be, so it's nice to have it in
3:05the middle where you can always hook up,
3:07regardless of which side you pull in on.
3:08But, if you want quirks, unquestionably,
3:11there are quite a few more quirks on the
3:13inside than on the outside, and probably
3:16the most unusual and controversial quirk
3:19is the center screen. Now, I don't mean
3:21the infotainment screen, which is fairly
3:22standard normal, and I'll get to that in
3:24a minute. Instead, I mean the center
3:26control screen, which you can see here,
3:28and it's controlling your climate
3:30controls, which is not all that unusual.
3:32A lot of cars use a screen for this
3:33purpose, not particularly strange, but
3:36the weird part is it has a dual purpose.
3:39If you press this button in the screen,
3:41suddenly it switches, so now this very
3:43same screen is used to adjust your
3:44stereo and navigation system, but you
3:47can't do both at once. And this is
3:50especially crucial, because that means
3:52the dial over on the left can be your
3:54radio volume. You can turn it up or down
3:56or if you're on the other screen, it can
3:58be your interior climate control
4:00temperature, but it can't be both. So,
4:02if you want to change your radio volume,
4:04but you're on the climate section of
4:06this screen, you got to press a button
4:08and then use the dial to change the
4:10volume, which adds another step to a
4:13process that should be really, really
4:15simple. Like I said, I suspect this is
4:17going to be pretty controversial. Not
4:19exactly a great integration of these
4:20controls in my opinion, but it takes up
4:23less space in the interior and it
4:24probably saves Kia some money by
4:26integrating all this into a screen
4:27rather than having different rows and
4:29rows of buttons. Now, interestingly, Kia
4:31isn't exactly allergic to using buttons
4:34and switches for some vehicle functions
4:36and you know that because the center
4:38console is filled with buttons for
4:40various controls, including some
4:41controls that are less used than the
4:43ones incorporated in the screen directly
4:45above. The heated and cooled seats are
4:47here, they're buttons, the heated
4:49steering wheel's a button, the auto hold
4:51feature, which most people only press
4:52once every so often, that's a button.
4:54All those things are buttons here in the
4:56center even though some more common
4:57controls are integrated into that
4:59dual-purpose screen directly above. Now,
5:01also in the center console here, you
5:03have this kind of weird gear selector
5:05situation. It's a dial and you twist it
5:07to go into drive to the right. You twist
5:09it the other direction to go into
5:11reverse. Neutral is in the middle and
5:13then park is a central button here.
5:15Different from a traditional gear
5:17selector, but that's what you have. Also
5:20weird in this interior, these little
5:22lines over on the passenger side of the
5:24dashboard. With the car off, you can see
5:26they're just lines, but with the car on,
5:28they actually light up. This is a trim
5:31piece that isn't just like a slab of
5:33wood. It's actually lit when the car is
5:35running to provide ambiance from the
5:37interior trim, which you don't see all
5:40that often. Now, as for the infotainment
5:42system, the screen in the center of this
5:44interior, it's fairly consistent with
5:46other Kia models, which means that
5:48generally speaking, I really like it. I
5:50love Kia infotainment. I love how
5:52intuitive it is, easy to use, responsive
5:54to your touch. It's really, really
5:56fantastic. My only complaint about Kia
5:58infotainment generally is the home
6:00screen, which you can see here. It's
6:02very like esoteric, it doesn't really
6:03show you a lot of good information, and
6:05it's worse than pretty much everyone
6:07else's home screen. But, of course, you
6:09can go to various other different
6:11screens and see all the information that
6:13other home screens show you. And so, it
6:15works pretty just as well. And I really
6:17like the fact that Kia lets you choose
6:19exactly what two displays you want to
6:21see at once. For instance, right now I'm
6:22just looking at the map, but if I tap
6:24this little icon on the side, another
6:26panel shows up to show me more
6:27information. And I can scroll in that
6:29panel through various different things
6:32if I want to see it simultaneously with
6:33the map. So, it's cool to be able to see
6:35two things at once, and it's also cool
6:37to be able to configure that at will.
6:39Now, the other screen in this interior
6:40is the gauge cluster screen mounted
6:42directly behind the steering wheel, of
6:43course. And this screen is fine,
6:46although frankly, I just wish it did
6:48more. I wish it was more configurable,
6:49could show you a full screen map or
6:51various other things, but it's just not
6:53all that configurable, can't really do
6:55all that much. Can show you some
6:56different displays, but not as much as
6:58you might expect from a screen. The
7:00whole point of having a screen there is
7:01to show you all sorts of stuff however
7:03you want it, but here it pretty much
7:04just shows the gauges that it replaced.
7:07Now, with that said, I do love the fact
7:10that this screen shows you your
7:11headlights and wiper position when you
7:14go to adjust them. So many cars, you
7:15turn on the wipers and you're not sure
7:17if it's like on or intermittent or auto.
7:19In this car, when you turn them on, it
7:21actually pops up on the screen showing
7:23you exactly what you've just selected,
7:25which is easier and safer cuz you're not
7:27looking at the stock trying to figure
7:28out what you've chosen. Same deal with
7:30the headlights. You turn them on and it
7:31shows you exactly what you've chosen,
7:33what position they're in right now, as
7:34sort of a redundancy to the stock. Yes,
7:36you can also look on the stock if you
7:38want to see it there, but looking in the
7:40gauge cluster directly in front of you
7:42makes it easier and I love that Kia
7:44models do that. One other thing this
7:45gauge cluster can do is change its
7:47appearance when you change the drive
7:49mode. To do that, you have a little
7:50button hanging off the bottom of the
7:51steering wheel that says drive mode. You
7:53push that to go into normal, eco, or
7:56sport. And as you can see, the gauge
7:58cluster changes what it's showing you as
8:00you go through those different drive
8:01modes to give you sort of a slightly
8:03different experience. By the way, also
8:05mounted on the steering wheel in terms
8:06of controls over on the left side, you
8:08have the controls for the driver assist
8:10technology and I must say this car
8:12driver assists very well. On the
8:14freeway, it'll steer for you, brake,
8:16accelerate, and it does it all
8:17fantastically. It goes around highway
8:19curves. It's really, really a good
8:21driver assist system, which is nice to
8:23see in a vehicle like this. Those are
8:24common in high-end luxury cars, but it's
8:27starting to trickle down into more
8:28affordable cars, good driver assist
8:30technology with a capacitive touchscreen
8:32wheel. Just let your hand rest on the
8:34wheel and the car does a lot of the rest
8:36of the work on the freeway. It's nice to
8:37see. By the way, one other quirky
8:39control the cup holders in the center
8:41console, fairly large, but you can see
8:43they're not like full circles. So, are
8:45you worried your drink might roll around
8:47or splash? Well, you can push this
8:50little button that says push and then
8:51boom, suddenly a full circle has
8:53appeared to keep your cup in place if
8:56you have a smaller one, which is kind of
8:58a fun thing just to push at stoplights,
9:00frankly. And next up, we move around to
9:01the backseat in the Niro, where you get
9:03in and quickly discover that it's Well,
9:05actually, it's pretty tight back here.
9:06Not really all that surprising
9:08considering what this vehicle is, small
9:09crossover, small hatchback, but it is
9:11relatively tight. Adults can ride back
9:13here, even taller ones, but their knees
9:15are going to be pushing against the
9:16front seat, head pushing against the
9:18roof. Not a huge backseat. With that
9:20said, there are some nice amenities back
9:22here. You have rear climate vents, which
9:24is nice to see in a car like this. You
9:26don't often get that, but you do here.
9:28You don't have rear climate controls,
9:30but that's okay, the vents are pretty
9:31nice. You also have rear heated seats,
9:33at least in this version, which is a
9:34nice luxury to have, and you have
9:37rear-mounted USB-C charge ports in the
9:39backs of the front seats. You can see
9:41both sides have charge ports, so rear
9:43passengers can charge their devices. So,
9:45not a lot of space back here, but some
9:47nice amenities, especially for the
9:48class. And next up, we move around to
9:50the back of the new Niro. But before I
9:52get into the cargo area, one interesting
9:54item back here, those gray panels I
9:56mentioned earlier, seem to serve some
9:59sort of aerodynamic purpose. If you look
10:01closely, you can see they don't quite
10:03line up to the rear doors. They're
10:05actually jutted out a little bit. And if
10:06you look even closer, you can see there
10:08are holes behind the panel for air to
10:11pass through. And those holes come out
10:12behind the brake light. It looks like
10:14air actually can channel under this gray
10:17panel and come out the back of the car.
10:20Now, I'm not sure if this actually has
10:21any benefit or real practical purpose,
10:24but you do have a little arrow hole on
10:26the side of your Kia Niro, like you
10:28might see in a McLaren. Anyway, getting
10:31into the cargo area back here, the new
10:33Kia Niro has a little power tailgate.
10:35And when you're back here, you can see
10:37find reasonable cargo space for a
10:39vehicle like this. Not exactly huge, but
10:41totally what you'd expect, and practical
10:43enough for this size. Now, you do have
10:45access to more storage if you want it by
10:47lifting up the floor. You can reach down
10:49here, lift it up, and you can see extra
10:51storage under the floor, so you can
10:53stick more stuff down there. But if you
10:55want even more storage, you can find it
10:57up front. Open up the front hood, and
10:59since this is an electric vehicle, you
11:01don't have an engine under here.
11:03Instead, you have this black plastic
11:05boxes, you can see. Lift that open, and
11:08there's extra storage. Now, it's not a
11:10huge storage compartment. You don't have
11:11a ton of extra space up here, which you
11:14might think you would, considering no
11:15engine, but you don't. But there is
11:17still some storage, which adds some
11:19practicality. The only drawback is
11:20accessing this spot. Some cars, you
11:22press a little button, and the front
11:23trunk comes open, and there's your
11:25storage. Here, it's a latch in the
11:27driver's footwell, like opening up a
11:29hood, and then coming up here, a second
11:31latch under the hood to open it up, and
11:33then you get in, which limits the
11:35practicality of your new found front
11:37storage. But anyway, since I'm up front
11:39where the engine usually is, let's talk
11:42performance. The new Niro EV has 201
11:46horsepower. Not a huge figure, and in
11:48fact, exactly the same as the old Niro
11:51EV, but the new one does have some extra
11:53range. EPA says 253 miles of range in
11:57the new Niro EV compared to 239 in the
11:59old one. So, same power, but a little
12:01bit more range. This one also has DC
12:03fast charging capability. So, if you
12:06find the right charger, you can charge
12:07this from 10% to 80% in just 45 minutes,
12:10Kia says, which is relatively quick for
12:12an almost full charge. And by the way,
12:14if you're not looking for a full
12:16electric vehicle, the Kia Niro is still
12:19offered as a regular hybrid and as a
12:21plug-in hybrid, just like the outgoing
12:23model. So, regular hybrid, you put gas
12:25in it, drive it like a normal car, no
12:27plugging in at all, or a plug-in hybrid,
12:29sort of in between. You can drive on
12:30fully electric power, but there's a gas
12:32engine for backup as well. So, you can
12:34still choose between three different
12:35flavors of Niro, although the EV has the
12:38most power and performance. As for
12:41pricing, Kia has not yet announced
12:43pricing for the new Niro EV, but they
12:45expect it to come in around $40,000 to
12:48start, maybe 40, 41,000 for like a base
12:51model, and this more premium version is
12:53likely going to be around 45,000, which
12:55is interesting because that competes
12:57directly with the Kia EV6, which is
13:00Kia's other new electric crossover. Now,
13:03a Niro EV has more range than a base
13:05model EV6. Like I said, 253 miles in the
13:09Niro EV versus 232 miles in a base model
13:13EV6. And the Niro EV also has more
13:15power, but the EV6 definitely looks
13:18cooler, more striking, more exciting,
13:19more fun. It's more engaging to drive,
13:22and it's larger. EV6 has more interior
13:24space, more cargo room, and so it might
13:27be more desirable than the Niro EV for a
13:29lot of people. But in terms of pricing,
13:31Niro EV and base model EV6 actually line
13:34up pretty closely. Now, one interesting
13:36thing is a Tesla comparison. A base
13:38model Model 3 starts around $47,000
13:42with 267 mi of range. This probably
13:46going to start around 40, 41,000 with
13:48253 mi of range. So, the range number is
13:51pretty close. This would probably be
13:53$6,000
13:55cheaper than a Model 3, and it has great
13:56driver assist technology. It's kind of
13:59an appealing comparison to an
14:01entry-level Model 3. And by the way, one
14:04other item worth noting about the Niro
14:05EV is that you can make it move just
14:08standing outside of it using only the
14:11key. Okay, check this out. This is the
14:13key, which by the way, I really like
14:15because the lock button is mounted on
14:17the side sort of an angle, and it seems
14:18like you're detonating something when
14:20you lock it. It just makes you feel cool
14:21and powerful. But also on the key, you
14:23have these two little buttons marked P
14:25with an arrow pointing up and down.
14:27Those buttons will actually let you move
14:29the car forward or backward from the
14:31outside. You can see right now I'm
14:32standing here holding down that button,
14:34the car is moving on its own. I'm
14:36outside of it, and it's moving forward.
14:38And you can do the same thing moving
14:40backwards. You press the P with an arrow
14:42backwards, and then you can get the car
14:44to move backwards when you're outside.
14:46And if you're wondering, why would
14:48anyone ever want to do this? The
14:50thinking is if you're parked in a really
14:51tight spot like in a building parking
14:53garage, or someone came in next to you
14:55and you can't even get inside, you can
14:57use the key to move the car out of the
14:59parking space to make it easier to
15:01access. I don't I don't think this is
15:02really all that practical, but it's
15:04possible, and it's certainly quirky. All
15:07right, driving the Niro EV.
15:10201 horsepower. It doesn't seem like a
15:12lot, but actually this is pretty quick.
15:15I step on it, it feels fast. I'm not
15:16sure what they're quoting the 0 to 60
15:18at, but this feels surprisingly fast,
15:20almost hot hatch backy like, which is
15:22kind of interesting. Now, on that
15:24subject, I want to talk about what
15:25exactly this is. Kia calls it a
15:27crossover, and the reason they do that
15:29is because people are buying crossovers
15:30right now. But, if you actually look at
15:32the dimensions of this vehicle, it's a
15:34hatchback. And that's especially true
15:36when you consider it's not offered with
15:38all-wheel drive. Front-wheel drive only.
15:40To me, this is very, very, very clearly
15:43a hatchback. But, crossover, hatchback,
15:45whatever, it's a Kia Niro. And frankly,
15:47it's relatively popular in its current
15:49form. So, let's talk through the driving
15:51experience. Um,
15:52interior is pretty good for a vehicle at
15:54this price point, size point. Uh, it's,
15:57you know, for a compact hatchback or a
15:59compact crossover, it feels relatively
16:01nice in here. You get good technology,
16:02you get good equipment, heated steering
16:04wheel like I showed you, that little
16:05feature that'll move the car forward or
16:07backward. Um, rear climate vents.
16:09There's some nice stuff in here you
16:10don't always see at this price point.
16:11Rear heated seats, good infotainment, a
16:14lot of nice stuff. But, with that said,
16:16it does drive a lot like a compact
16:18hatchback. Uh, well, no surprise because
16:20it is one. But, what that means is you
16:22do get tire noise, you do get wind
16:24noise. It's not like an ultra-luxury car
16:26where you're immune from every noise on
16:28the outside. It drives like, you know, a
16:31RAV4 or a Volkswagen Golf or vehicles
16:33like that in terms of like ride comfort
16:36and noise on the outside and things of
16:38that nature. In fact, there's a little
16:39bit more tire noise than I was
16:41expecting. Steering and handling also
16:43kind of as expected, similar to vehicles
16:45like this. It's not particularly,
16:48uh, engaging or exciting. You don't
16:50exactly toss it around and get a lot of
16:52feedback. The steering is pretty numb.
16:54Um, it's more responsive than I was
16:56expecting. More and more cars are are
16:57getting better and better steering
16:58response. And couple that with the
17:00acceleration, it actually drives like a
17:02better performance car than I thought
17:04that it would. Um,
17:05but it's still isn't what I would
17:07consider to be like fun or particularly
17:09engaging or enjoyable. What this car
17:11really is, to be honest, is an electric
17:14car for people who don't want to get
17:16something that's like weird or different
17:18or bizarre, and they don't want to spend
17:20a zillion dollars. They don't, you know,
17:21it's not like a Tesla person or someone
17:23buying a Porsche Taycan. They don't want
17:25to make it part of their identity. They
17:26just want a car that goes point A to
17:27point B, and it's electric. And this is
17:29actually really great at that. It's a
17:30pretty good dollar per range
17:33um value proposition. If it's in the low
17:35$40,000 range for 253 mi of range,
17:38that's pretty good. And frankly, I think
17:40it's a totally reasonable driving
17:41experience. It's exactly what you'd
17:42expect. Again, not incredibly engaging
17:44or exciting,
17:45but it drives well. It's fine. It's It's
17:47useful. It's practical. Overall, I would
17:49say that this is a good car. It's not
17:51earth-shattering. It's not amazing, but
17:53it's good. It It does everything that
17:55people buying a vehicle like this would
17:57expect a vehicle like this to do. It
17:59drives well. It's nice. Um
18:02and the driver assist tech is good, and
18:03the overall tech in here is good. And I
18:05think this is a pretty compelling
18:06package at the price point. Now,
18:07personally, I really like the EV6, which
18:09is Kia's other electric vehicle, um that
18:12sort of It takes over where this leaves
18:13off. So, a little bit bigger, a little
18:14bit more expensive, more performance.
18:16And if I could stretch to get one of
18:17those, I would. But if you're not
18:18looking for performance or style, you
18:20just want a point A to point B electric
18:22car, this is that. And frankly, I think
18:24it does quite a good job at being that.
18:27And so, that's the new 2023 Kia Niro EV.
18:32This is a nice little electric car, but
18:34it faces a lot of competition from a
18:36litany of new electric cars, including
18:39Kia's own EV6. But this certainly holds
18:43its own, and it's definitely interesting
18:45and quirky. And now it's time to give
18:47the new Niro EV a Doug score.
18:54And the Doug score is here, 46 out of
18:57100, which puts the Niro EV here against
18:59some other relevant cars. It beats out
19:02all its relevant competitors I've
19:03tested, the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, the
19:06prior Kia Niro EV, the BMW i3. Though,
19:09it can't quite beat the Volkswagen ID.4
19:11or Tesla Model 3. That's okay because
19:13both of those cars are a lot more
19:14expensive. So, if you're looking for an
19:16electric car with a reasonable price,
19:18this is a great option with some
19:19impressive technology.

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Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

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YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.