Car of the Year Awards 2021: Best small electric car for long journeys
This class embraces nimble city cars and handy small cars and continues onwards to encompass everything up to and including family-sized SUVs no more than 4.5 metres long...
Kia e-Niro Long Range 3
Let’s examine what helps ease the burden of any long journey. Comfort’s a good place to start, and while there are more supple electric cars, such as the DS 3 Crossback E-Tense, the Kia e-Niro’s ride is soft enough and far better controlled, so it won’t make you travel sick.
A good infotainment system is another useful attribute, not just to plot a route but also to keep you entertained. Well, 3 trim comes with a 10.3in touchscreen that’s far easier to use than the Citroën e-C4’s and Peugeot e-2008’s and has loads of features, including in-built sat-nav and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.
If your long trip’s a holiday, the e-Niro has loads of room, including generous rear seats and a big boot for all your kit. You’ll also need punchy performance for motorways, and it’s got that covered, dispatching 0-60mph in 6.5sec in our test.
But the top priority is how far it’ll go between charges, and here the e-Niro is outstanding; at 282 miles (WLTP), or 253 miles in our Real Range test, the e-Niro has most of its classmates licked for range.
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