Kia Niro EV review: running costs & insurance

Kia’s standard seven-year/100,000-mile warranty is sure to provide drivers with peace of mind

Overall rating

4.5 out of 5

Running costs & insurance rating

4.0 out of 5

Insurance groupWarrantyService intervalAnnual CC cost (20%/40%)
28-297yrs/100,000 miles2yrs/24,000 milesFrom £147/£294

The Kia Niro EV attracts a Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) company-car tax rate of just 2% right now – the same as all electric cars. Compare that to roughly 30% for the full-hybrid version of the Niro, or even around 10% for the plug-in hybrid Niro PHEV, and you can see where big savings can be made.

Kia Niro EV insurance group

The Niro EV falls into insurance group 28 or 29 depending on trim level. This represents an increase over the old e-Niro, which in range-topping form was rated in group 27, but shouldn’t be hideously more expensive to insure than the Cupra Born (groups 25-28) or MG4 EV (27-29).

Warranty

The Niro EV comes with the same excellent seven-year/100,000-mile guarantee that all Kia’s cars leave the showroom with, and which few brands come close to matching. MG’s seven-year/80,000-mile warranty for its range of electric cars, including the ZS EV, isn’t far off, however.

Servicing

The Niro EV only needs servicing every two years or every 24,000 miles, whichever comes first. That’s twice as long as the regular Niro’s service interval, which should help you save on running costs. You also can buy one of Kia’s e-Care service plans specifically for its electric cars; this will spread the cost of maintenance over monthly payments for up to five years.

Road tax

As with all electric cars, the Niro EV is zero-rated for vehicle excise duty (VED, otherwise known as road tax), but that will end in 2025. It’s also exempt from the London Congestion Charge until 2025 and attracts a 2% Benefit-in-Kind company-car tax rate – significantly less than its full-hybrid and plug-in hybrid Niro sister models.

Welcome one and all, I’m Ellis the news reporter on Auto Express, the brand’s former online reviews editor and contributor to DrivingElectric. I’m proud to say I cut my teeth reporting and reviewing all things EV as the content editor on DrivingElectric. I joined the team while completing my master’s degree in automotive journalism at Coventry University and since then I’ve driven just about every electric car and hybrid I could get my hands on.

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