Kia Niro - MPG, CO2 and running costs

With prices for the entry-level Niro Hybrid currently starting at just under £30,000, not only does it sit in the same price range as the Hyundai Kona Hybrid and other small SUVs, but hybrid-only hatchbacks like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, too.

Kia has embraced electrification with quite some gusto, and like its predecessor, the Niro is available with the full gamut of electrified powertrains – full-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure-electric.

Kia says the base hybrid can return up to 64.2mpg on a combined cycle – about five miles-per-gallon better than the old model – but we averaged 50.5mpg after covering more than 11,000 in our Niro Hybrid long-term test car. That’s still decent for a car that you don’t plug in, and we spent a lot of our time travelling on motorways where the engine is on most of the time. For comparison, the 11th-gen Civic we lived with only managed to achieve 45.1mpg after close to 6,000 miles of motoring. The Niro’s CO2 emissions are better, with the Mk2 Niro Hybrid emitting 100-106g/km, depending on which trim level you choose. 

The Niro PHEV is more expensive to buy, but it’s also greener – emitting 18g/km of CO2, according to Kia – and can even achieve up to 353.1mpg on the WLTP combined test cycle. Figures like that sound very impressive, but you’ll need to charge the car regularly and drive on battery power as often as possible if you want to see close to those returns.

Electric range, battery and charging

The plug-in hybrid Niro uses a 11.1kWh battery and offers a pure-electric driving range of up to 40 miles – or 38 miles if you upgrade to 3 or 4 spec with larger wheels. We expect closer to 30 miles is more achievable in day-to-day, so long as you charge the car regularly. Using a regular home wallbox charger, it’ll take around three hours to fully charge.

The Niro EV features a 64.8kWh battery that offers a maximum range of 285 miles – five miles further than the older Kia e-Niro could cover – but at least it’s competitive within the small electric SUV class. The Niro EV has also proved itself to be pretty efficient, with the ‘3’ version returning 3.9 miler per kWh in our twin test against the MG4, which equates to a real-world range of 253 miles. The top-of-the-range ‘4’ trim has the option of a more energy efficient heat pump (for £900), which might be worthwhile going for if you plan on tackling long trips in the winter.

A 10 to 80 per cent top-up from most rapid chargers takes at least 45 miles, while fully replenishing the Niro EV’s battery using a 7.2kW home wallbox will take about nine and a half hours.

Tax

The low CO2 emissions of the Niro PHEV make it more appealing to company car drivers than the regular hybrid, but it can’t hold a candle to the Kia Niro EV in this department. Because it doesn’t produce any tailpipe emissions, the Niro EV sits in the lowest possible Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) company car tax band, and benefits from free road tax (VED) and avoids the London Congestion Charge, at least until 2025.

Insurance groups

The cheapest Niro to insure is the regular hybrid model, sitting in groups 20 to 21. The plug-in hybrid sits in groups 23 to 24 and the Niro EV is in group 28 to 29. Whichever powertrain you choose, the insurance rating rises one group for the 3 and 4 trim levels over the base 2 spec.

Depreciation

Data from our car market experts indicates that the Niro family should hold onto around 46-54 per cent of their original list price after three years and 36,000 miles of ownership, with the electric performing the worst, and the regular hybrid performing the best.

To get an accurate valuation for a specific model, check out our valuation tool...