Car Vlog 27 - Hyundai Kona vs Kia E-Niro

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[guitarbackingtracks]

I recently drove the Kona and e-Niro back to back, for me the Kona is far superior, less noise, smoother acceleration, felt much nicer in the corners. I felt like I was driving a much bigger vehicle in the e-Niro, almost truck like as if the suspension was having to cope (badly IMO) with the weight. I felt quite at ease driving the Kona, you adapt to the electric way very quickly, it makes ICE cars seem very old fashioned, I never felt at ease in the Niro, on narrow roads I felt like I needed to pull over to let oncoming traffic pass! I totally agree with you, if you are taking four onboard regularly the e-Niro is way better in the back seats, more leg and head room and a bigger boot.

I also prefer the higher display panel in the Kona, and, although I thought it was a gimmick before driving, the HUD is great, you don't have to take your eyes off the road, you can keep an eye on the speed and sat nav directions (easy to speed in these relatively quiet cars).

[AndySchroeter]

Have test driven the Niro and the Kona and decided for the Kona. Mine just arrived last week but will register the car only on January 2, since here in Germany, starting 2019, EV Cars receive a big benefit in terms of tax deductions starting 01.01.19. ( taxes are only 50% of what I had to pay if I registered it now). Albeit the Konas interior is also „ plastic dominated“, the grade of quality, coherence and attention to detail seemed more convincing in the Kona. The provided space is adequate for my demands and the rear seats are comfortable enough to allow accommodating the occasional guest. Am very very happy to belong to the privileged few who received their car within 10 weeks after ordering it ( went for the medium spec with the metallic blue - white roof combination)

[Stoffe]

Must you drive a fossilcar when you record your video. It sounds awful.

[DiHandley]

At this stage it’s looking like I’ll get the Kona. Neither the Kona or the e-Niro have arrived in Australia yet. But it looks the the Kona will arrive first quarter ahead of the Niro at the end of the year. I think the Kona looks better outside and the interior is good with the heads up display.

[gzcwnk]

Agree, I want the extra space but the outside of the Kia e-nero is tacky, so on looks the Kona wins, on space e-niro wins so a hard choice. However since the e-nero has been delayed until the end of 2019 here in NZ (was supposed to be March 2019) just when the mk2 Ioniq with 38kw? battery arrives I will wait to see of the 3 which I prefer.

[neilbrandon]

It also depends on the options available in your country. In the UK the .e-Niro is only available in one spec that does not have led lights, rear cross traffic, cooled seats, or choice of light grey interior option. The Kona premium SE has all the above. However Niro is now about £2500 cheaper than Kona 64 premium SE! Also no HUD on Niro!

[gregoryosullivan]

The Kona is a nicer looking design. I agree with you about the grey plastic, ugly. I'm still buying an Ioniq. The 39kWh one would be good but I need a car now so it has to be the 28kWh model,

[claytonroot]

Your video mentioned the surprise at pricing and content variability from country to country.

In Canada, neither the Kona EV nor E-Niro have arrived yet. However, if both brands stick with their current marketing schemes, it would PROBABLY be an E-Niro for me. Why?
Well based on pricing here for a fully loaded Hyundai Kona and a fully loaded Kia Niro, the Niro actually costs less money than the Kona EVEN THOUGH the Niro is a hybrid and achieves 64% better fuel economy in the city and 25% better fuel economy on the highway than the gasoline only Kona. Essentially, the Hybrid power-train came for free. Add to this the aforementioned larger rear passenger accommodations (probably a MUST if you ever have to use children's car seats), the heated rear seats along with the heating/cooling vents in the rear and the rear electrical outlet in the Niro. The Niro also has MUCH greater use of soft touch materials in the interior AND it has a Memory Function for the power driver's seat and the exterior mirrors on the Touring Model. My wife and I are totally different dimensions so this is a wonderful feature for us which is NOT available on a Kona at any price. The Niro Touring also has Cooled Seats up front, and it has automatically folding side mirrors (which I've disabled for the winter) as well as "Tilt Down Mirrors" when reversing if desired (also disabled for the winter) as I don't want electronic motors fighting Ice Buildup on those occasions when we receive freezing rain. I realize the Kona EV has cooled seats up front but not so in the gasoline version of the Kona. My final reason for choosing the Niro is that it actually has "an integrated dashboard infotainment screen" rather than another one of those ridiculous "afterthought stuck on modules" the whole industry has gone insane over recently.
The downsides to the Niro in Canada are 1) You can have any interior colour you want as long as it's black, Arghhh! and 2) There is quite a lot of "Piano Black Trim" in the interior of our Touring Model. Lower equipped models have an aluminum look to their trim panels which I would gladly swap in a heartbeat. Again, the whole industry seems to have gone nuts over Piano Black accents which are just fingerprint and dust magnets. Monkey see, monkey do! Overall, we love our Niro Hybrid and have achieved a measured/calculated fuel economy of 5.1 liters/100 km over the first 7, 724 kilometers. We took a 4 year lease to see what's shaking out in the EV World and Charging Infrastructure roll-out going forward. Right now, charging stations are paltry in the city of 400, 000 where I live, and the ones that are available virtually always have an ICE vehicle parked illegally in the charging stall. Hopefully, significant fines will be forthcoming for those inconsiderate bastards.

[alaasadek]

If it is cheaper and bigger and more comfortable because of the wheel base, then why do you want the Kone that is more expensive smaller and has a rough ride in comparison? Best regards from Cairo Egypt.

[be]

Actually, for e-Niro, I like its exterior looks (better than Kona EV front looks ugly with the grills), like its dial round shifter (like Nissan LEAF, which I have), and like its bigger size inside. For Kona, I like its range (in "the states" it is rated with about 30km more than e-Niro), and like Hyundai brand better than Kia brand. So I am leaning towards "more range" is most important to me.

[studi]

I will get another niro for sure. I don't trust Hyundai. The kona looks cool, but that's all it has going for it.

[marktiller]

Let's face it, it's a Hyundai or a Kia for me, or maybe in the distant sometime imaginary future, a VW EV. But really, if I could afford it, a model S 100d every time

[iu]

What really bothers me for both cars is that there's no memory seat option. The Ioniq has memory seats but the Kona Electric and Niro EV don't? In fact, I think the Niro Hybrid has memory seats! Stupid Hyundai/Kia.
EDIT: It appears the Niro EV sold in Korea has memory seats. I hope that's available globally.

[martink.]

Niro, mehr Auto fürs Geld. Ich bin kein SUV Freund, aber diese Mini Kiste Kona taugt mir nicht. Auch finde ich Kia insgesamt wertiger und gelungener. Und auf die "kleinen" Autos mit viel Reichweite müssen wir noch ein bisschen warten bis sie da sind. Leider braucht Hyundai mit dem großen Ioniq mal wieder ewig. Honda hat noch keine Daten veröffentlicht und VW wird auch noch voraussichtlich bis März mit der Vorstellung brauchen.