Kia Niro set for electric line-up

Kia Motors is the latest carmaker promising to have a range of electric vehicles available early next decade.

Together with Hyundai, the sister companies will have 31 “green” cars in production by 2022. Kia itself says the all-electric Niro is the first of eight to come.

Included in the line-up would be plug-in hybrids, standard hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and pure battery EVs.

At this point the 2017 Soul EV has been introduced, but it’s controversially styled compared with the more stylish Niro due for a late-2017 release overseas. It also currently has 284Nm of torque and just 81kW.

The 2018 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Niro is expected to replace the Soul EV, and a full-electric version is to follow.

The News Wheel reports Kia as saying the new Niro EV will have an “Eco-DAS” (driver assistance system), to improve economy.

“The Niro plug-in is the exciting next step in Kia’s progression toward offering more alternative fuel vehicles,” Kia Motors America’s vice president of product planning Orth Hedrick says.