Kia’s electric cars are coming full force, as evidenced with the release of the Kia Niro EV in the Korean market. This is the prelude to the electric crossover’s launch in the European market before the end of 2018, after it gets its official welcome at the Paris Motor Show, of course. 

Just like their normal cars, you can expect plenty of value from Kia and Hyundai electric models. They may have been a bit late to the game, but that’s because they have been perfecting their game before coming out to play. So wit the Kia Niro EV you get an excellent range of 280 miles (450 kilometres) on a single charge, a figure that blows most of the competition in this segment out of the water. The same goes for the equipment and the yet-to-be-confirmed pricing.

In terms of performance Kia Niro EV has a 150 kW (204 ps) motor, producing 395 Nm torque the moment you engage it, resulting in a 0 to 100 km/h time of 7.8 seconds. Another encouraging figure about this car is the fast-charging time, which takes only 54 minutes. Kia is going to offer different battery packs, meaning there will be smaller packs with less range that charge up even quicker, so you can pick and choose based on your needs. And don’t worry about practicality and space, because the batteries are fitted neatly under the floor.

The design of the Kia Niro differs in key details from the regular and hybrid models, but not to the extent of making the car look alien. It comes with its own crisp colors including white, grey, bronze, red, green, and blue,and gets an EV-specific 7″ infotainment featuring relevant info such as nearby charging points and the level of charge and range remaining from the battery pack. Needless to say, you get the latest tech features as well, including a wireless smartphone charger.