2026 Kia Niro

Our lease on our ‘24 Niro EV is coming to an end soon on it. Over the almost 3 years we’ve had it, it’s been a mixed bag. This is our 2nd Niro EV (1st was a ‘20 model year and the previous gen design), so I’ve got a good comparison between the two. The tech in the new one blows the old one out of the water, mind you the ‘20 was a base model and we upgraded to the fully loaded Wave in ‘24. The new one has heated/ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and full leatherette across the interior (the ‘20 only had heated seats and a weird cloth/leatherette combo seat). I had a heated steering wheel in both though. The top trim also got me a working sunroof (those with EVs know how hard it is to get an opening sunroof), heads-up display, and all the driver’s safety tech you could ask for - including full highway self-driving (you just have to keep your hand on the wheel and the car does all the work, including lane changes). It even has the “Smart Park” feature on the key fob where you can remote control the car in and out of tight parking spaces. The only thing not offered on the Niro EV that’s offered on other Kia models is the 360° camera with the blind view monitor. Now the performance of the new Niro versus the old one is a mixed bag. We never had an issue with the old one over three years and 50k miles, but the new one needed with 10k miles on it to get a new electric motor replaced under warranty (took two months). The car has been perfect since, but still that was our experience. The range is better than the old one (250 miles versus 230 we got in the old Niro), but better doesn’t mean good compared to other EV options that were out even when our ‘24 was new. It’s also very slow at charging compared to new options (1hr from 0-80% and another 1hr to 100% at a fast charger). The car does charge overnight on a level two charger (how we use it), which is good. Overall, it’s a great budget EV option, just get an extended warranty if you buy a used one.