2020 Kia Niro PHEV - opinions?

Alun

Pique wrote: »

I suppose safety features are on by default. There's probably legal liability potential if the possibility to disable it was there.

I don't see why. There's no legal obligation on the manufacturers to supply these features on new cars (yet) so they'd be in the clear in that regard.

The active lane keeping is really, really annoying on smaller back roads, and the lane following assist when using the smart cruise control is something I'd like to be able to turn off too, as although it does seem to work reasonably well it's a bit of a gimmick as far as I'm concerned.

Pique

Alun wrote: »

I don't see why. There's no legal obligation on the manufacturers to supply these features on new cars (yet) so they'd be in the clear in that regard.

The active lane keeping is really, really annoying on smaller back roads, and the lane following assist when using the smart cruise control is something I'd like to be able to turn off too, as although it does seem to work reasonably well it's a bit of a gimmick as far as I'm concerned.

Because you have to cater for the dumbest moron possible. If someone switched it off and then their partner got in and drove thinking it was on by default and veered out of their lane and crashed there could be a possibility of litigation (probably in the US tbf). There's no obligation to use ABS either AFAIK. All these features improve the NCAP rating though.

Now as I have yet to experience it fully I can't give my opinion on the experience with it like you, but in a month or so I might be echoing your sentiments, who knows.

Alun

Just had a very strange experience with the Smart Cruise Control. Was heading down the N11, 100km/h, open road no other vehicles near me, but the car decided to slow down quite abruptly due to a cyclist cycling along the hard shoulder, well over in the centre of the lane, not close to the dividing line or anything.

daheff

judgefoozle wrote: »

Ask Kia Ireland directly about this if you're worried - there's no issue using granny cable as long as you've a properly wired socket.

Well not officially, but if you look online you'll see a number of reports of the granny chargers burning out. Mine included.

That said they replaced mine with the newer unit....plug is much sturdier, so I guess they've fixed that issue. Also my dealer told me kia weren't going to provide this for phevs going forward....only full ev

I have mine a year and love it.

Downsides as I see it...if your aircon temp is 5c higher than outside temp it uses the engine.....so I mainly use the heated seats (usually end up setting mine to low when I need it).

Cabin tends to fog up a bit as the aircon isn't on as much.

Real petrol usage (motorway etc) is around 5-6l per 100km.

Alun

I think they've reduced the charging current on the new units. The manual still refers to a model that charges at a max of 12A, but mine maxes out at 10A.

daheff

Alun wrote: »

I think they've reduced the charging current on the new units. The manual still refers to a model that charges at a max of 12A, but mine maxes out at 10A.

There's a button on the back of the unit to toggle the amps....think there is 3 different settings.

Alun

daheff wrote: »

There's a button on the back of the unit to toggle the amps....think there is 3 different settings.

I've seen that button and thought that might be what it was for, but pressing it didn't seem to do anything. The manual mentions 3 settings, L,M,H with L being 8A, M 10A and H 12A. But on mine it actually displays 10A on the far right of the display where H would have been on the older one.

EDIT: I've figured it out with the help of an online manual for the e-Niro, no mention of it in my manual. You have to press the button, and hold it in for 1sec to change the charging current, and it only works when it isn't plugged in to the vehicle, which is what I wasn't doing.

Mine switches between 6A, 8A and 10A, whereas the old model switched between 8A, 10A and 12A, displayed as L, M and H. My dealer mentioned something to me about problems with people using coiled extension leads with the old ones and burning out the cable so maybe limiting the max current to 10A is an attempt to reduce that, I don't know.

tooth*grinder

hey folks, I'm looking to get rid of the diesel-mobile this year. Given my daily work commute is half the M50 each way (~50km in total), I'm looking for something I can run more economically and more comfortably than a civic diesel.
With that in mind, could any owners give me their insights to the following questions?
Are folks finding the 60KM electric range is far off real world M50 type driving?

I've a bit of a nagging idea in my head that a 1.6petrol engine with a hefty load of batteries could be a bit sluggish in terms of over taking trucks or merging - how are ye finding it?

In terms of the fancy electronics, how's the android auto integration? The Korean's seem to have some of the better integrations around, but I know some one with an opel who's had non stop issues with it and that'd piss me off to have to be dealing with it not finding the phone or failing to pass phone calls through.

How's the auto cruise control? I'm dreaming of being able to sit in M50 traffic without having to start stop clutch every 50meters, can I just set the distance I want to keep to the car in front and essentially let it do the driving?

Pique

Finally picked mine up today.

Was looking forward to nerding over the owners manual only to find there isn't one, just a "Quick Reference Guide" of a whopping 12 pages.

I rang the dealer back before they closed and he though I had all the booklets that came with it. The shagging infotainment manual is the size of a novel (albeit split between 20 languages).

Does anyone know if there's a manual online for the 2020 UK/Irish spec PHEV? I can find US ones, and 2019 ones, but no 2020s.

Alun

I got a hard copy one with my car, go back to the dealer and ask for it. I've also been searching for an online one. It's much handier to look things up in a PDF using search, as the so-called "Index" is a joke, but to no avail. Lots of examples for the previous model though.

The infotainment "manual" is now in the bin ... It's a quick reference only, and in probably about 50 different languages so as thick as a doorstop and totally useless. You can get an online HTML version of the full manual by going here ... http://webmanual.kia.com/STD_GEN5_WIDE/AVNT/EU/English/index.html

social butterfly 2020

How is everyone finding the car?. Im due my one in 3 weeks time. All opinions welcome!!.

Safe driving folks

?Cee?view

Black_Knight wrote: »

7kW is the max you'll be able to run from your home, unless you're wired up for 3 phase (unlikely).

If you are wired up for 3 phase, what difference would this make? Does it mean that you could charge up much more quickly?

KCross

?Cee?view wrote: »

If you are wired up for 3 phase, what difference would this make? Does it mean that you could charge up much more quickly?

It wont make anything faster unless the car has the ability to charge on 3 phases.

Most EV's dont and the Niro PHEV doesnt.

Alun

Would anyone with a 2020 Niro PHEV like to share what software / map versions they have on their cars? I suspect mine are both way out of date and would like to know what version others have before I tackle my dealer.

Setup > General > Version info/update

graememk

https://www.gpspower.net/kia/360080-kia-software-maps-update-2020-a.html


New software and maps for Kia, the 2020 would be the wide screen gen 5 for the phev niro

Alun

graememk wrote: »

https://www.gpspower.net/kia/360080-kia-software-maps-update-2020-a.html


New software and maps for Kia, the 2020 would be the wide screen gen 5 for the phev niro

Thanks, will check that out. I've used that site before, but hadn't noticed that new update, looks like it was only uploaded yesterday.

KCross

Alun wrote: »

Would anyone with a 2020 Niro PHEV like to share what software / map versions they have on their cars? I suspect mine are both way out of date and would like to know what version others have before I tackle my dealer.

Setup > General > Version info/update

graememk wrote: »

https://www.gpspower.net/kia/360080-kia-software-maps-update-2020-a.html

New software and maps for Kia, the 2020 would be the wide screen gen 5 for the phev niro

With this new version of the software it will be dated Nov 2019.... 1911xx.

Its worth updating.

Alun

There seems to be a new torrent added recently for MY20 Wide systems. Not sure what the difference is between that and the other Gen5x versions.

By the way, the mod on that forum seems to be on a bit of a power trip. I asked a simple question and my post was deleted for no obvious reason.

KCross

Alun wrote: »

There seems to be a new torrent added recently for MY20 Wide systems. Not sure what the difference is between that and the other Gen5x versions.

The wide version is just for the wider/newer screen

By the way, the mod on that forum seems to be on a bit of a power trip. I asked a simple question and my post was deleted for no obvious reason.

did you ask for his phone number or what?

Alun

KCross wrote: »

The wide version is just for the wider/newer screen.

There were two "wide" versions though, one with Gen5x_Wide in the file name and the other with STD5W in it as well as MY20, which mine is, and also has STD5W in the current software version string.

The first update failed, but the second one worked fine, so happy out here although the maps are woefully out of date still. If only Ireland would stop building new motorways for a year or two to allow them to catch up