2020 Kia e-Niro: prices, specification and on-sale date

The Kia e-Niro electric SUV is offered in three trim levels and with two battery sizes; it’s priced from £29,845 after the government grant

The latest version of the hugely popular Kia e-Niro has appeared on Kia’s website with an expanded three-trim line-up offering various levels of equipment and a new smaller battery option. Previously, the e-Niro was available exclusively in ‘4’ trim with a 64kWh battery; now, the range consists of ‘2’, ‘3’ and top-spec ‘4+’ trim levels, with first of these offered exclusively with a 39kWh battery.

The ‘2’ trim, priced from £29,845 after the plug-in car grant (PiCG), gets 17-inch wheels, keyless entry and a reversing camera. An eight-inch infotainment screen also features, complete with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The ‘3’ (from £34,100 including the grant) adds leather upholstery, heated front seats with eight-way power-adjustment for the driver, a wireless mobile phone charger and a larger 10.25-inch infotainment system with sat-nav.

While ‘4’ trim was previously the only option for e-Niro buyers, this trim has been replaced by ‘4+’, which adds even more to the equipment list, including a sunroof, LED headlights and a JBL stereo system. The top-spec e-Niro comes in at £36,395 after the grant is applied.

All e-Niro models get autonomous emergency braking as standard (Kia calls this Forward Collision Avoidance Assist), along with lane-keeping assistance, hill-start assistance, driver attention warning and adaptive cruise control. Seven airbags are fitted.

The e-Niro 2 is available only with a 39kWh battery and 134bhp electric motor, while other models come with a larger 64kWh battery and 201bhp. Both setups support 100kW fast charging and each can charge to 80% in a claimed 54 minutes at this speed, according to Kia’s website. At a more sedate home-wallbox speed of 7.2kW, charging times to 100% are six hours and 10 minutes for the smaller battery and just over nine-and-a-half hours for the larger one.

The least powerful e-Niro manages 0-60mph in 9.5 seconds and has a top speed of 96mph; the more powerful models have a 7.5-second 0-60mph time and a 104mph top speed. Range is more important, however, and this remains competitive: 180 miles with the 39kWh battery and 282 miles with the 64kWh battery.