Evolutionary Revolution: The 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium

The 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium.

Okay, so you're ready to make the leap to an electric vehicle. An all-electric range of over 200 miles is within your comfort zone and you have choices. But the Tesla Model 3 seems a little too futuristic, you're not wild about the looks of the Nissan Leaf Plus and the Chevy Bolt seems too small.

The 2019 Kia Niro EV may be just what you're looking for. It's a conventional compact crossover, about the same size as a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CR-V. In fact, Kia sells the Niro as a gasoline-powered model---but they also have the Niro EV, which is all-electric.

Prius Fighter Plus: The 2017 Kia Niro Touring

The 2017 Kia Niro Touring.

It was just over a month ago that we reviewed the 2017 Kia Niro FE, the base trim level for Kia's new hybrid...and our take was that, at 52 miles per gallon city/49 highway and $23,785 including delivery, the Toyota Prius has reason to worry.

Now, we've just finished a week in the top-level 2017 Kia Niro Touring and we're still very, very impressed.

Prius Fighter? The 2017 Kia Niro FE

The 2017 Kia Niro.

Traditionally, fuel economy has not been enough to make a car competitive with the Toyota Prius.  The sales charts are littered with failures that got close to the Toyota hybrid's vaunted fuel economy, but didn't sell ---because they didn't look like a hybrid.  People who bought the Prius over much of its 20-year history have wanted other people to know they were driving a fuel-saving hybrid just by looking at it.

Well, in its current generation, Toyota appears to have taken the "different" way too far.  The radically re-styled Prius is selling in fractions of the numbers of its ancestors.

So is the time right for a car that delivers the mileage but looks like a conventional car?