I spent my weekend putting together a list for myself of all of the hybrids and plug-ins in my price range. I looked up the MF, RV, and incentives for every one and ran them through the calculator to get an estimated payment. Then I calculated estimated MPG vs my current vehicle to see how much I might save on gas.
So far, when put all together it looks like the Kia Niro is coming out on top as the most cost effective replacement for my Pathfinder, assuming I can get it at MSRP (or by some magic, under).
It definitely wasn’t my first choice to look at (that would have been the Accord hybrid or Rav4 hybrid), but my goal is to save money. I would be making some compromises on things that I would really like to have but don’t really need like heated seats and adaptive cruise (looking at the LXS SE trim), and I hear performance is kind of lackluster (it is a hybrid, so mostly expected) so I wanted to see if I could get some opinions from any Niro owners here about their experience.
What do you like and don’t like? Would you lease/buy one again? How is the passenger and cargo space?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I can go read a hundred detailed reviews online, but those reviewers don’t generally live with the car and drive it every day.
True, but after years of coming here I also trust the opinion of most people on this site over a few lines written by a complete stranger somewhere else.
I would love an EV, but 1) no chargers at work, 2) my house is over 180 years old and it’ll be a lot of work and money to get charging there too. I have to request special permission from the town just to trim certain trees because it’s a historic area and all that.
I know this isn’t particularly helpful but I tried the Niro Hybrid and EV when we shopping for a decent economical commuter last year. I found the hybrid a bit more frustrating as it seemed to take time thinking before downshifting when trying to join the freeway (we live in North East LA with insane freeway onramps)
In the end we went for a '21 Sonata hybrid in limited trim which we’ve had for almost a year now and I highly recommend it. Given current gas prices in LA i’ve been trying my best to drive economically and leaving the car parked on the street for the solar roof to soak up some sun to eek out those extra 2miles Hyundai promises. So far, so good…
The 2023 looks really nice, but I’m sure it will also be quite a bit more expensive. I’m guessing the only reason there are any deals on the 22 right now is because people are waiting for the 23.
We currently have a 2011 Sonata hybrid and it’s been pretty good to us, so I’d love a new one. But I would have to go for the absolute base model to keep it in budget. I am looking at the Elantra hybrid, that’s more in my range.
