When compared to some other high-profile model releases, the Kia Niro was not the most anticipated electric car introduction, but both consumers and critics have praised it for its impressive range and stylish functionality. The Hyundai Kona EV and the Niro electric vehicle share the same platform, however the Niro has a longer wheelbase. The Niro is offered as a plug-in hybrid with an all-electric range of 26 miles in addition to a completely electric car option.
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Kia Niro Charging & Range
The Niro EV has a 64.0 kWh battery and can charge to 80% in less than an hour thanks to rapid charging at a rate of 7.4 kW on a level 2 EV charger and up to 7.7 kW on a DC fast charger. The Niro EV has a 239-mile estimated range. The Niro can charge from zero to full capacity with the supplied level 1 charger in about 60 hours. With the use of a more potent level 2 EV charging station, such as the JuiceBox 32 or 40, the charging time is significantly decreased. The Niro can be fully charged in around 9 hours using a level 2 charger.
For those who wish to drive more sustainably but need the added range provided by a gas engine, the Kia Niro PHEV is a suitable choice. The completely electric Niro and the plug-in hybrid Niro can both be charged at the same station. The 26-mile range can be fully recharged in about six hours using a level 1 charger. The Kia Niro PHEV can be fully charged using a level 2 charger in 2.5 hours, allowing drivers to charge overnight at home or throughout the day at work and still have enough juice to get to their destination using only battery power.
Level 3 DC fast charging: CCS
The Kia Niro EV features DC fast charging capability and can recharge up to 80% of its battery in around 60 minutes at a rate of up to 77 kW. For level 3 DC rapid charging, the Niro utilizes the SAE Combined Charging Connector (CCS).
The amount of kWh required to charge a Kia Niro PHEV
- Most home charging stations have a charging rate between 3.6 and 7.2 kWh.
- In Ireland, the typical public chargers are rated at 22kWh.
- A full Kia EV battery typically requires 6 to 9 hours to fully charge, depending on the battery capacity (ideal for overnight home charging). Less than three hours may be needed to completely charge a Kia PHEV.
- When you purchase your Kia electric vehicle, a Type 2 charging cable will be provided for this manner of charging. You can use this with either the personal or public charger.
- As a general rule, you can determine the ideal AC charging time for any EV by doing the following steps. Just double the battery capacity by the OBC (On Board Charger) rating of the car. The vehicle’s OBC (On Board Charger) is an electrical component within the car that changes alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) (Direct Current). EG. From empty to full, a Kia e-Niro 64kWh battery with a 7.2kWh OBC will take roughly 9 hours to charge (assuming you are using a home or on-street charger in excess of the 7.2kWh OBC rating).
What is the cost of charging a Niro?
The newest automaker to join with a charging network to offer electric car owners special pricing is Kia. Through the Kia Select program, owners of Kia Niro EVs can now receive discounts on Electrify America DC fast charging.
Owners of the 2019 and 2020 Niro EV model years are now able to pay a flat fee of $0.35 per minute. According to Electrify America, the program has no subscription fees and also does away with session fees.
One of the few major electric vehicles that can charge at 100 kilowatts is the Niro EV (albeit only for a very small portion of its fast-charge curve). On the Electrify America network, such charge rate typically costs $0.69 per minute plus a $1.00 session fee. Additionally, Electrify America offers a $4.00 monthly pass that brings the cost of charging down to $0.50 per minute.
Even that is expensive. According to Kiaso, even if it takes the Niro EV 54 minutes to charge to 80%, if you spend the most of the charge time at the EA hardware, you can still spend close to $20.
Niro EV owners must download the Electrify America app and go through a registration process in order to receive the discount. According to a press statement from Electrify America, the program will be “reevaluated” on December 31, 2020, after which it will end.
In order to invest $2 billion in infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles, Electrify America was established. Despite the association with VW, Electrify America has collaborated with a number of automakers to provide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
For the 2020 model year, the Niro EV’s EPA range rating of 239 miles stays the same, but it has received improved infotainment screens and other minor updates. Additionally, hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains are offered for the Niro.
The second-generation Soul EV, Kia’s other electric vehicle for the US market, has been delayed.
The new Soul EV won’t make its appearance in the United States until at least 2021, as opposed to its initial arrival date of around spring 2019.
What is the cost of charging an e-Niro?
Simply multiply the battery capacity by the price of power to figure out how much it will cost to use a home charger to charge a high voltage battery on any electric vehicle (PHEV or EV).
The Niro PHEV, for instance, has an 8.9kWh battery (kWh stands for kilowatt Hour). The cost to charge the Niro PHEV battery from zero to one hundred percent is 8.9kWh X 0.17 = 1.51 because the price per kWh of energy is 0.17 (example cost, depending on the home supplier).
A Niro PHEV can travel 55 kilometers in full electric mode. Therefore, it will cost about 2.74 (1.51 X 2 / 110km * 100) to travel 100 kilometers on electricity alone. With a petrol vehicle using 6 l/100 km, that represents a 5.50 savings (Average petrol price in April 2019=1.42 Source AA Ireland). And a savings of almost $3.37 every 100 kilometers as compared to a well-known hybrid vehicle, which uses 4.5 liters of fuel on average per 100 kilometers.
Here are the costs for charging the batteries used in both the e-Niro and e-Soul, assuming the price of energy is 0.17 per kWh, as well as the costs per 100 kilometers driven for the e-Niro equipped with these batteries, based on the WLTP average range figures.
The average range of the 64 kWh battery is 455 km, whereas the average range of the 39.2 kWh battery is 289 km.
On the long-range battery, 64kWh (64 X 0.17) = 10.88, and 2.39 every 100km (10.80 /455km *100km) are needed for a complete charge. To fully charge the mid-range battery, which has a 39.2kWh capacity (39.2 X 0.17 = 6.66), it will take 2.30 kilometers each 100 kilometers.
kW DC Charger
On a different day, but at the same Electrify America station, we conducted our EV6 test. Possibly by chance, the temperature was below freezing this time29 degreesas opposed to 53 degrees for the Ioniq 5. Due to the fact that we are not regular thieves, we used the “available 350-kW charger. The 30-minute session increased the anticipated range from 58 to 221 miles, increased the state of charge from 23 to 84 percent, and added 52.5 kWh for a total cost of $22.36.
As with the Ioniq 5, the charging rate increased to 130 kW after the battery’s level of charge reached 47 percent after starting out in the 70-kW range. Is there a magic number of 47 percent? Sadly, it never reached the same peak power as the Ioniq 5, even for a brief moment; perhaps this was because of the cooler weather. Its maximum power was 134.1 kW. The EV6 had been driven extensively before charging for more than an hour, just like the Ioniq 5.
What does it cost to charge an electric Kia Niro at home?
Electric vehicle (EV) charging is much less expensive than traditional auto fueling. However, a number of factors, including location and charger levels, affect the overall cost of charging.
Even while the price varies surprisingly depending on where, when, and how you charge, it is undeniable that the overall cost is significantly lower than operating an automobile powered by an internal combustion engine. Kilowatt hours (kWh), a unit of measurement for the amount of energy storage present in the cells of an electric car battery, are used to express the battery’s capacity. A KIA Niro EV, for instance, has a 64kWh battery. Consequently, to figure out how much it costs to charge your car, all you have to do is look at the price of energy (at either a public charging station or your home supply) and do the math.
The cost to charge an electric automobile from completely empty to full is calculated as follows: Size of battery (kWh) x Electricity Cost of Your Supplier (Pence Per Kilowatt Hour).
As an illustration, the 64 kWh battery in the KIA Niro EV is used. The cost to charge the e-Niro battery from zero to one hundred percent is 64 kWh x 0.17, or 10.88, because the price per kWh of electricity is 0.17 (example cost, depending on a supplier).
The most practical and economical way to recharge an EV is at home, provided you have access to a garage and/or the power grid. The expense of keeping your automobile fully charged is roughly $10.50. A basic 110-volt charging station that plugs into a regular electrical outlet is used for Level 1 charging, which takes anywhere from 8 to 24 hours to fully charge. However, you may benefit from Level 2 charging, which can recharge a depleted battery in as short as four hours, by investing between $250 and $400 to have an electrician install 240-volt lines in your garage. As an external Level 2 charging unit, the electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE), which can cost between $300 and $1200, will also be required. Compared to the price of gasoline, the cost of electricity is significantly more stable. Keep in mind to verify your area’s electrical provider and your plan.
Destination charging is another name for level 2 public charging. If you intend to spend a few hours at your destination, it is a wonderful solution. Depending on the station owner, different electric car charging fees may apply when using a public charging station. Some Level 2 public charging stations are free to use, while others are pay-per-use and charge a cost based on the number of kWh used, the start rate, and/or the rate per minute. Pay-per-use often costs $1.00/hour or $2.50/charge. Typically, public charging stations bill between $2 and $8 for a full fill up or between $0.11 and $0.15 per kilowatt-hour. Units are situated in major cities, retail parking lots, public parking garages, and regions with a higher concentration of electric vehicles. Either through a charge network account or a credit card that is pay-as-you-go, you can make purchases.
Level 3 public charging stations, commonly referred to as DC Fast Charging, are a significantly faster, more modern substitute for Level 2 public charging stations (DCFC). It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to charge an electric vehicle’s battery to 80% of its capacity. Most Level 3 charging stations charge by the minute and are pay-per-use, with an average hourly rate of $15. It is accessible close to urban regions. Sadly, Level 3 charging is the fastest and most expensive method of recharging an electric vehicle.
EV batteries come in a variety of types. You can buy numerous models of electric cars with various battery capacities, and occasionally the same automobile is offered with a choice of batteries. The more energy a battery can store, the more expensive it will be to charge it. The amount of time and money needed to charge the battery depends on the type of electric vehicle you have.
Can I use a Tesla station to charge my Kia?
The Supercharger network that powers all of Tesla’s electric vehicles, not its selection of electric automobiles, is the company’s most valuable asset. However, the experience is far from ideal even if other companies can now charge their EVs at Tesla superchargers. Bjorn Nyland, a well-known YouTuber, demonstrated what happens when a Kia EV6 is hooked into a Tesla supercharger.
Tesla superchargers are widely available and provide quick charging along with a seamless driving experience that is unmatched in the EV industry. The only thing you need to do if you drive a Tesla is park the car and plug it in. Like magic, the charger connects with the vehicle, and the invoicing is handled immediately.
For all other EV brands, however, who rely on external charging networks, the entire process is a disaster. You must set up an account and a billing option, install an app (or several), and many times customers have claimed that the charger is difficult to persuade to charge the vehicle. It makes sense that every EV automaker in the world aspires to have a charging system similar to the Tesla Supercharger. They are fortunate because Tesla just declared it will allow other brands to use its network.
The decision benefits both parties, since EV owners now have access to the best charging infrastructure in the world and Tesla now has access to their cash. They only need to download the Tesla app to their phones and follow the same steps they would for any other charging network they have access to. Therefore, it falls short of the hassle-free experience that Tesla owners enjoy, but at least it provides a second way to charge an EV.
Of course, as non-Tesla users of the network start to realize, there’s more to it than just getting access to the supercharger. To begin with, there are situations where the car will not bargain with the charger. Additionally, even when everything seems to be going well, it might not. Even while the charging process begins as predicted, YouTuber Bjorn Nyland observed that the Kia EV6 and Tesla Supercharger don’t always get along.
The EV6 has a problem with improper plug locking; as a result, anyone can unplug the plug while the owner is gone from the vehicle. Even though it might only be a glitch that gets fixed in a subsequent version, this is still a concern. We don’t know if this is an issue that only the Kia EV6 is experiencing or if it affects all non-Tesla EVs. Due to how simple it is to unhook a non-Tesla from a supercharger by simply pressing the button on the plug, failure to lock the charging plug might result in severe disagreements between drivers.