2019 Kia Niro EV should arrive in US later this year
It'll likely hit EV-crazy states like California and Oregon first.
Kia hasn't given out much information about the US version of its upcoming Niro EV electric hatchback, but now it's on Kia's website with a bit more info.
According to Kia's US page for the Niro EV, it will go on sale "at the end of 2018," as spotted by InsideEVs.
Of course, there's an asterisk right next to that date, which explains that the Niro EV's planned release date is "in select markets in limited quantities." It's likely that any release will start in states with higher EV adoption rates (California, Oregon and so on) before expanding nationwide.
The page also gives us a few preliminary specs. When the production version broke cover in Korea in May, two different batteries were mentioned, the same two that can be found in international variants of the Hyundai Kona Electric. But much like its smaller semisibling, the Niro EV seems to only carry one variant to the US -- it'll have a 201-horsepower, 291-pound-foot electric motor connected to a 64-kWh battery pack that Kia hopes will carry an EPA-estimated 240 miles. The EPA has not yet evaluated the Niro EV, but it will before it goes on sale.
The Niro EV doesn't look that much different than its hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. The front grille has been closed off since there's no internal combustion engine, and it's been replaced with a charging port on the driver's side between the headlight and the license plate frame. It has a few clever blue accents to let you know it's an EV, as well as a unique shifter borrowed from the Niro EV concept that debuted at CES in January.
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