Kia’s foray into the hybrid segment might be ill-timed, considering the current contraction of sales for its main rival, the Toyota Prius, but the Korean automaker is betting big on the Niro’s traditionally boxy shape bringing in would-be Prius buyers offended by origami-esque sheetmetal.
Still, with that two-box silhouette comes some preconceived notions — like all-wheel drive.
While you want it, and Kia Motors of America would surely love to give it to you, there are a host of reasons why Kia’s newest hybrid-only crossover doesn’t offer all-wheel drive and likely won’t anytime soon.
After speaking with Kia Motors America’s director of communications, James Bell, it appears the company would love to offer optional all-wheel drive on the Niro and is actively campaigning for its addition, but two major technical issues stand in the way.
First, one must consider the platform. The Niro is based on the same bones that underpin the new Hyundai Ioniq, a car that will be launched later this month. Underneath the rear seat sits the same battery pack as the Ioniq, which stretches more-or-less the width of the vehicle. This poses an issue in engineering.
“You’d have to split that battery pack in half,” explained Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning for Kia Motors America, when asked about the addition of mechanical all-wheel drive. Splitting that pack would be no easy feat, and would likely reduce the Niro’s battery capacity while also adding the extra weight of a mechanical all-wheel-drive system.
But what about an e-AWD system where the rear wheels are independently driven by their own electric motor? Not so fast.
“The rear of the Niro is already quite tight and we didn’t package protect the rear for future all-wheel drive,” Hedrick stated, effectively killing the possibility of a single-motor solution.
Still, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Hyundai-Kia’s largest supplier, Mobis, offered a glimpse at an in-wheel electric motor e-AWD system that would solve the Niro’s packaging issues — but at a cost.
“[In-wheel e-AWD] is unlikely to happen if the solution adds $4,000 to the price of the vehicle,” Hedrick said.
If Kia Motors America gets its way, all-wheel drive could show up in a second-generation Niro, with some other vehicles also benefiting from the new technology. Kia is currently developing an e-AWD system in-house, but will need to find more applications than just the Niro to bring it to production.
[Image: Kia Motors America]
If Kia is still using their mickey mouse hybrid system, Toyota has little to worry about. The electric motor/generator is hung on the ICE like an a/c compressor
Well, what this works out to be, in essence, is a tall hybrid wagon, ala Prius V or Ford C-Max.
The bad news: neither model has been a big success sales wise.
The good news: this one’s far better looking, and will undercut them both on price.
As far as the Prius is concerned, given the fact that Toyota chose to make the current one an eyesore, maybe Kia sees an opportunity.
If it’s priced right, and delivers the mileage you’d expect from a hybrid, I think it has a fair chance at some success.
“[In-wheel e-AWD] is unlikely to happen if the solution adds $4,000 to the price of the vehicle,”
It won’t do anything positive for the unsprung weight of the rear suspension either.
One correction: the Niro is not a crossover (no AWD/4WD option).
Are you saying a Sportage/RAV4/CRV/Renegade in FWD format is a crossover because they *could* be optioned with AWD?
Or are you saying that all crossovers *must* be AWD?
I don’t buy either argument, actually. To me, “crossover” has more to do with body style and utility than drivetrain.
Your crossover has no Soul.
To me it’s a hatchback that happens to feature cheesy cladding.
I don’t want AWD. The Prius was never AWD; this is no different.
See, and this is from a guy who actually buys electric cars.
But the Crosstrek Hybrid was all-wheel drive … and that did AWESOME.
AWD is more of a psychological crutch than a necessity.
Most FWD vehicles with decent tires are surprisingly capable in snow conditions.
If you’re talking Blizzard of 78 mobility, you need serious ground clearance too, which cars / CUVs don’t have.
I can’t help but wonder what possessed Toyota to make the new Prius so heinous-looking.
When my wife (“cars are an appliance”) went shopping for a hybrid, it was immediately crossed off on looks alone. Which was a shock to me, as she normally could not care less. It actually crossed the line from ‘invisible’ to ‘offensive’.
If Kia prices this bland bread-box aggressively, they could have something.
I agree, have not seen one in person yet, but on the computer screen it looks pretty well done. If you can grab one for a couple grand under sticker, it looks like a pretty hot deal. With gas well under 2 bucks a gallon, there’s no rush to high fuel econ rigs right now.
Hyundai/Kia AWD is worthless. I’ve seen youtube videos where it shows to be just as such. Especially Russians like to take them to snowy tests. And often fairly easy conditions make these cars and their AWD fail
Many of the AWD systems used by Hyundai are developed and produced by Magna … so blame them, I guess.
Isn’t this basically, in terms of mission if not actual lineage, a slightly more butch Rondo?
There may be a perfectly good reason for the moniker placed on this model, but perhaps Kia should have first researched the, ah, colorful life of Nero.
But maybe there will be parallels in the life of Nero and the Kia Niro – power sharing, being adopted by a new “parent”, then belonging to several different women (and then a man) over the course of a few years… possibly a disaster or two that cost a fortune to repair, followed by an early death.
If anyone from Kia is reading this.. please make this: http://www.kia.com/us/en/content/vehicles/concept-cars/trailster
PLEASE!?