2025 Kia Niro PHEV – Full Walkthrough!
So, you’re shopping for a new crossover. You want comfort, cargo space, and no compromise. Let us introduce you to the 2025 Kia Nero plug-in hybrid EX. EX. So, the EX trim level is right smack dab in the middle of the PHEV lineup, and it actually used to be the only trim level available for the redesigned Kia Nero. Now, that’s not the case. We actually have three different options. However, this is still our volume seller. So, in today’s video, Charlotte and I will give you a full tour of everything you get in the EX model. Absolutely. And I think Gabby said it best. And if you guys haven’t clued in by the buy right now is these videos are actually done completely live, meaning it’s just us. There’s no script. It’s us and the car. So, if you guys have any questions about the Kia Nero or any other vehicles that are a part of the Nero family or the Kia Hyundai lineup, feel free to leave them as a comment in the live chat. And if you’re watching this after it’s already been posted, first of all, like this video, subscribe, and leave a comment down below because we do monitor them for you. So, should we get right into it, Charlotte? Let’s go. So, I’m so glad Charlotte said the Kanero family because there is actually three different kinds of Kanero. You can get it as a regular hybrid where you don’t have to plug it in at all. You simply put fuel in it. You can get it as a plug-in hybrid, which has both a fuel door and a charge door, or fully electric. So, it’s truly our doit all vehicle in the Kia lineup. And it’s certainly attractive because it’s at a fantastic price point. I like to say the PHEV is the best of both worlds because of course you can utilize the full electric range of 53 km, but if you run out of your fully electric range, you still have a hybrid vehicle. It’s going to be more fuel efficient than your average gasoline crossover. And you get a ton of fun tech, safety, and comfort. And all wrapped up in a pretty cool color, too. There you go. So, let’s start off on the front end of the vehicle. We’ll talk design, we’ll talk safety, and then we’ll work our way under the hood, inside the car, and all around. So, for the front end, on all trim levels of the Kia Nero, you will get this headlamp unit. It has a bright white LED for the daytime running light. Super super sharp, very modern, and then for a main headlamp, it is a H hallogen bulb, so it will emit a little bit of heat, which is fantastic for winter because it’ll actually melt snow and ice off your headlamp. Again, best of both worlds. For the design, we have some nice satin chrome hues expanding all the way across the front end of the vehicle with our cityscape green body color. There’s also a touch of flat black for our grill with a lot of horizontal lines definitely widening the overall look of the car. When you hop over to the EX trim level, you will get some advancements to the safety of the vehicle. So, this will be our introductory trim level to smart cruise control, which utilizes the center radar plate. Now, that’ll monitor the distance of not only your car, but the car ahead of you, slow you down if you hit stop and go traffic all the way to a complete halt and then right back up to speed again. It’s also a configurable cruise control, so if you think the reaction time is a little too slow, you can make adjustments to it to make it feel more like how you would drive. On top of that, this trim level is also your introductory trim to navigation. So, that makes our smart cruise control highway drive assist whenever you are using it on a registered highway. That simply means that it’s going to know the speed limit changes of the highway that you’re on as well as if there’s any bends in the road and will accommodate for said conditions. All right, terms of styling. Again, a lot of clean, simple lines. I do like the fact that although this is a green vehicle, I mean, literally it’s green. It doesn’t look too weird. A lot of EVs, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids have badging everywhere indicating that it’s a green car. This vehicle just looks like a sleek vehicle. All right, let’s pop the hood and talk powertrain. The PHEV can be a little bit complicated, especially if you’re not too familiar with what a plug-in hybrid is. So, let me break it down. That PHEV is our short form for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. This will operate a bit different than your traditional hybrid because we have an electric motor and a larger battery. The battery in a plug-in hybrid is actually capable of taking charge in from external sources like plugging it into a level one or level two charger and storing it to drive on full electric range at a later time. The regular Kia Nurero Hybrid will not have that capability. It’ll sit at idle in EV mode, but you can’t drive in EV on the highway, whereas in this car, you can. For the engine, it’s a 1.6 L gasoline naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine. And combined with the battery and electric motor, we have 180 horsepower with 195 pound- feet of torque. That’s again the combined units. The battery capacity is an 11.1 kWh lithium ion polymer battery. And that of course will be your larger battery that is capable of accepting charge. I love talking about the fuel efficiency of this vehicle. So if you do not plug in your vehicle, you simply run it in regular hybrid mode, you’re averaging about 4.8 L per 100 km combined. So that’s highway driving and city driving. If you do plug in your vehicle, that number will go down to 2.1 L per 100 km. So that is your liter equivalent and that indicates both the usage of the electricity or electric range and your gasoline or hybrid range. So fantastic numbers for the Kanero. Let’s talk wheels now. Oh, sorry, transmission. It’s a six-speed transmission. For your wheels, it is a 16-in alloy. You’ll get the same design regardless of the trim level you select for your plug-in hybrid. So, the same aeroblade style alloy. Now, this is intentional. It looks a little bit different than your regular gas cars wheel, and that’s because it’s meant to minimize the air resistance and maximize the air flow. Everything about this car has an emphasis on aerodynamics, and that’s what gives it such great range and ratings. Surrounding the wheel, we have a little bit of a black plastic arch cladding. So, not overly done. It still keeps the sleek, smooth lines of the vehicle. For your windshield, we’ll take a quick look at the very center. That’s where you’ll find the vehicle’s forward- facing camera. Now, that’ll be utilized for the forward collision avoidance on this vehicle, which is an upgrade from the entry models, regular forward collision avoidance. This particular model will have the ability to see risks of crashes in junctions. So, if you’re somewhere or if you’re someone who does a lot of driving in, you know, hightra intersections, this car will sense that there’s a risk when you’re making a left-hand turn and can apply the brakes if it senses that you will hit another vehicle. Same thing with pedestrians and cyclists. That camera also has the function of monitoring the lanes ahead of you, so not only steering you to make sure you’re centered, but warning you if you start to depart on either the left or right hand side. Very smart car indeed. And of course, with all these active safety functions, you can shut them off if you’re not a fan. When it comes to your mirrors, the EX will be your introductory trim level to a mirror mounted turn signal indicator. The mirror itself is body color. And then in this case, we have our bright white lights, not white, but bright lights. And then along the bottom, a little bit of black plastic molding. In the mirror itself, you’ll notice we have our caution icon for our blind spot detection. So that’ll illuminate if there’s ever a vehicle in your left or right blind spot. And then should you go to indicate a lane change, it’ll beep at you, too. So give you some audible alerts to let you know there is a car there. The EX is also your introductory trim level to our proximity entry. So both the driver and passenger front door handles will have this little button to allow you to unlock and lock your vehicle without grabbing or touching your key fob. You can simply have it in your pocket or in your bag, walk up to the car, press that to lock it or unlock it. That also means this is your starting trim level for push to start with integrated remote start and Kia connect. So that is your app access allowing you to start your car from your phone, check its location, check if the doors are locked, all that good stuff, which we have done videos explaining all of it if you’d like to check out our channel. For the overall body of the Kia Nero, it is certainly a crossover. It’s not too large of a car, so it does s well in more hightra or dense city areas, but it’s also comfortable. You can be a taller driver and feel comfy in this car. You’re not confined in it. When it comes to the cargo space, there’s also a ton of room. Stay tuned in a second. First, we’ll talk about the rear and the design. So, our tail lamps are this beautiful almost boomerang style look. I get a little bit of Volvo accents here, but it’s still uniquely Kia, too. And this actually is integrated into our C-pillar blade. So, it’s very hard to film this on camera and actually get the full look. But, Charlotte, if you come where I am, right over here, I’m going the opposite way. Okay. If my arm was long enough and skinny enough, I could actually channel it through the entirety of the blade. I don’t think Oh, there a little bit. Guys, it’s functioning. And if you’re a true car fan, you may also see the resemblance to the Kaniro and the Audi R8. Both of them have this airpillar. I was looking at both of those. Thank you. If you are cross shopping, this one’s certainly more affordable and it is more efficient, so it’s probably the better choice. But no, again, in the terms of aerodynamics, this is a major part in it. Just again channeling all that air, making the body as slippery as possible. Now, let’s talk about cargo space and the overall comfort and cargo room of the car. So, we’ll open up the liftgate. It is hydraulic. Doesn’t open up too high, so if you do have a lower clearance garage, it shouldn’t be a problem. And we have about 550 L of cargo space behind our back row seats. Just going to take our mats out of here so we can get the full look. There we are. And we’ll also take a look at the level one charger. So the level one charger comes complimentary with your new Kia purchase. This is essentially you don’t need any special wiring. So it can plug into a regular threeprong outlet 110 volts and slowly charge your vehicle. Now, most PHV drivers can get away with this no problem. No special wiring needed because it’s a typical overnight charge. So, about 10 to 11 hours plugged in. Again, if you for whatever reason cannot plug in your vehicle, that is okay. At the end of the day, it is still a vehicle that has a gasoline engine with a fuel tank. You will not be left stranded. It’s still a regular hybrid. You just get an extra 53 km of full electric range if you do plug it in. So, super great on road trips because you don’t have to worry about whatever charging stations are nearby. Underneath the floorboard, we do have a small cargo area here housing your tire mobility kit. So, no spare with the Nurero PHV, but you do get the inflater kit with the sealant. And that’s about it for our cargo room. You do have a backup camera located underneath the K and Kia and rear parking sensors scattered throughout the back bumper. Now, this will of course give you a beep inside the cabin when you approach something a bit too close, just as an extra warning when you are reverse parking your vehicle. All right. Next, we’ll talk about the fuel tank size as well as the charge door. So, your fuel door is located by your SE-pillar in the very rear of the passenger driver’s side. Regular unled fuel is just fine, and it’s a 37 L tank. 37 liter tank is actually the smallest fuel tank in the Kia lineup. So, it is extremely affordable to fill up. Seriously, it’s not going to hurt your pockets. And you have just over 700 kilometers of range on gasoline alone. So, if you’re only gassing up your car, expect a pretty good distance to empty. If you choose to plug in your vehicle, your plugin is right on the driver’s side front fender. And this is opened by pressing. So, as long as the vehicle is unlocked, you’ll press on the charge door, and there you can see our AC inverter. I already mentioned you can use the level one charger that comes standard with the vehicle at purchase. But if you are in a public setting, let’s say a mall, or I don’t know, any restaurant, hotel that might have a level two charger, you can plug it in there and that typically takes about 2 to three hours depending on the output of said charger. So, that is obviously much quicker, but that’s going to be found more so in a public setting or if you already have an EV or a charger at home. That’s typically what you’ll find. Now, that sums up our exterior walkthrough. Charlotte will take you guys on a tour of the inside, but if you’re watching live right now, make sure you leave a like. And if you have any questions, drop them in the comments now cuz we’ll answer them at the end. Let’s go. All right, so for the interior of the cabin, the new it really has pretty much everything that you need and nothing that you don’t want, which is something that I really like about it. So, I’m going to quickly turn the vehicle on and I’ll also have Gabby show a quick look at the driver’s side door. So, on this trim, this is when you’re going to start to see a little bit more in an upgraded material. So, we’re going to have some high gloss black accents, uh, really stretching all the way across the door, which I think does look really good. And again, some more different designs for our armrest on the side. For your mirror controls, they are electronically controlled. And then you have a one obstacle detecting and automatic window for the driver’s side with regular automatic windows for everyone else in the vehicle. You’re also going to have just our regular in-house speaker system. So, nothing too crazy going on here, which I really like. And then when it comes to your seats, let’s take a look at them. They are manual. So, you’re going to have sixway manual for our driver. So, you of course bring it forwards, backwards. You can adjust the height and your back rest as well. This is also going to be the introduction for a combination seat. So, you’ll notice that we have a mix of leatherrett and then also cloth for our insert. So, little bit of the best of both worlds, one might say. Cloth and leather. On this side, I’ll just show you a couple of the buttons that we do have. Your brightness adjuster for your instrument cluster. You also have your fuel door release if you’d like to override any type of scheduled charging and your traction control as well. All right. Want to come around? Absolutely. Perfect. So, Charlotte got our hazard lights on. You can see the indicators on the mirror as well as our front indicators. Those will of course also be your turn signals. So, those bold bright white DRLs will switch into an amber for indication. Let’s hop in. Oh, I’ll show the rear first, actually. There you go. We got our indicator lights mounted lower on your bumper. Charlotte, can you hit the brakes real quick? Brakes. Yep. Got our highmounted stop lamp. And then, of course, your main brake lights. I absolutely love the design of the Kanero, especially in this color, which again is cityscape green. What a beautiful green. It’s not too green. It’s a little bit of a bluish bluish green hue. Now, something special about our passenger seat is the fact that it’s also sixway manual. So, with this one, you’re also going to have a height adjustment, which is very nice, but it also means that it matches our driver’s seat, which you don’t see too often across the Can Hyundai lineup. We’re only just starting to see it. All right. Directly ahead of me is we do have our steering wheel two-spoke design. So super futuristic I will say and we’re going to have a split between our drive-in controls. So from here you can enable your highway drive assist or that smart cruise control but then also of course adjust the following distance and your lane keeping systems from here. On this side is your media controls with the virtual assistant media modes, a favorites button and calling. Also on the steering wheel is going to be our option for drive modes. So you have eco and sport mode. Now, you will notice down here that sport mode is automatically going to put the vehicle into hybrid because, of course, if you are going to be wanting to operate with a little bit more of a sporty taste. It’s going to be using uh it’s going to be using the gasoline engine as well. So, both of those options are there, of course. Uh I will of course show you once again the instrument cluster. Sorry, it’s been a little while since I’ve done this, guys. So, 4.2 2 in is going to be our screen and this is going to be the area that is switchable or changeable when you press down on this notes icon located on your steering wheel. So from here you can see your turnbyturn navigation, tire pressure, engine temperature, your relevant safety information and then also the estimated electric range and gasoline range. Now currently she’s not really charged up, is she? Electric range is zero but gasoline range is over 700 km. And of course, as the vehicle learns more about you, these are going to show you more accurate specs based off of your driving, which I really appreciate. And then digital speedometer, digital tachometer as well. Everything looks very, very nice. Paddle shifters located behind. And then we still have our lighting stock and our wiper stock as well. Starting on the EX trim is going to be our 10 and 1/4 in multimedia screen. It does have included navigation, and you have a designated PHEV button, which is going to show you the energy flow of the vehicle. and then also give you all of your options for more specific charge management for setting up the charging setting. Set setting up your charging settings. That’s Yeah, that made so much sense. We’ve done a video on it. Don’t worry, guys. Uh from here, you can also pop into setup. You can go into vehicle, and this is when you’re able to go and customize or turn on any of your active safety if you want to adjust it into providing emergency assistance or emergency braking or just simply being an alert. when it comes to your connect connectivity. This is going to operate with wired Apple CarPlay or Android Auto because it is this generation of software with the bigger screen. So, it’s going to be a wired option for your CarPlay. You still have Bluetooth though, don’t worry. Switchable infotainment and climate control cluster. So, right now it’s set for our infotainment. Press down on the fan and this is going to go and give you the option for your climate control. It is dual zone climate control as well. And because this is a green vehicle, you also have the driver only function, which is going to focus all of that just on the driver instead of wasting any type of energy heating the entire cabin. Just going to focus it here, especially if you’re the only person in the car to help with your electric range. Your options right here, if you’re plugging in, you have a USBC or USB, but you do have a USBC for charging and a 12vt. This is also going to be the starting trim for a wireless phone charger, too. Push to start. Heated seats for the driver and for the passenger. Heated steering wheel as well. You have auto hold, which when enabled, if you’re driving the vehicle, you bring it to a full complete stop. You actually can take your foot off the brake and it’s going to hold you there until you go and put your foot back on the gas. Now, this is always going to be a fun button. It’s your EV. So, Gabby, I’ll get out of sport mode. Gabby mentioned this briefly on the exterior of the vehicle, but from here you’ll notice the change that as I press down on it, it’ll give me the option for HEV, EV, or automatic. So, basically, by pressing that button, now of course, we don’t have any EV range right now. Um, it’s going to allow me to go and cycle between those different options that I can pick. Now, of course, if I’m drive, my driving habits are counterproductive to basically what I put it in, the vehicle will adjust itself. So, say if I’m being really aggressive on the throttle, it’s not going to keep me in EV mode. it is going to kick in that gasoline motor. So, if you’re merging on the highway, um, it is going to keep you, it is going to do what it sees fit to give you the most optimal output, if that makes sense. Electronic parking brake as well. And then over here we have our shift by wire. And then, of course, your parking sensors and your rear view camera. The nice thing is that with those rear parking sensors is if it does detect anything over here, it’ll show you in red, yellow, or green. dual cup holders. Good amount of space back here. And we even have a little tiny bit of storage space, covered storage space, that is up top. Nothing too crazy. You have your options here with Kia Connect when it’s set up for emergency assistance or roadside assistance. And other than that, we just have regular bulb interior lighting. All right. Ambient light, ambient lighting as well. You can change the color. We can go and do that right now if y’all want. Let’s go take a look. Make her look nice and pretty. Lights. Ambient lighting. I’m feeling pink. Ooh. You also have the option to set a custom color. So, this actually gives you a full color wheel. I’m going back to pink. Very nice. Very chic. Or green to match the green. In terms of headroom, now a lot of people when they see the Nero, they’re like, “Okay, you know, it checks a lot of boxes for me, but am I going to fit?” When it comes to the headroom, you’re going to have about 41 and a half inches of headroom. And then leg room 40 leg room is going to be 41 12 40 1/2 in for headroom. And then when it comes to your rear space, you’re going to have about 39 in there of headroom and just under 38 in of legroom. So, if you sit upright or upside down, you got about the same amount of room. Yeah, pretty much. Can you demonstrate? Not right now. Not at 9 months pregnant. So, you definitely have a good amount of space in the Nero, even in the back seat, quite honestly. And then for amenities, some of the stuff that I really like back here is the fact that our seats are going to double as a headrest or coat rack, or not headrest, coat rack or bag holder. You have dual USBC, which is great for charging. You’re going to have uh two pockets. You have climate control or ventilation coming back here as well. And both of these seats are compatible with car seats. We have three sets of rear tethers. And then dual sets of lower latch anchors, meaning all seats are compatible for a car seat. Bring this down. Adjustable armrest with cup holders as well. And we also have more speakers back here, too. But really a good amount of space. In terms of safety, although it’s unrated by the IHS and the NHTSA, uh it does have seven airbags. So, there you go. Awesome. All right, let’s answer some questions. We’re at 21 minutes so far in today’s video and about 73 people are on right now with only 29 30 likes now. So, if we can get those numbers to match a little bit better, that would be sweet. That would be incredible. All right, you guys. Let’s see what you have to say about the Kia Nero in the EX trim level. I haven’t checked the comments yet. Uh, me either. A lot of welcome back, Charlottes. Oh, thank you guys. Yeah, people thought you had the baby. No, no, no, no. So, I’m 36 weeks today. So, I still have some time to go, but I was taking some time off just to spend some extra time with my daughter before I wasn’t feeling good. And then I also have had a couple medical things pop up. So, this just enabled me to kind of be at all of those appointments, rest up a little bit more, and hopefully take care of myself. Uh, Ruthless Biscuit went ahead and ordered a 2026 Kia Sportage Xline Limited. Oo, congratulations. I know that you’ve been doing so much research on that, so congratulations on biting it. I’m not not I’m biting the bullet. My goodness, I bit the card. I’m Guys, I’m It’s been a while since I’ve done this. Can you tell I’m super rusty? Um, Keith said, “A friend of mine ended up with a Nero EV as a rental and had no idea how to charge it.” I feel like if you’re a rental car agency and you’re giving someone an electric car, you should really Yeah. Yeah. Big time. Um, oh, it sounds like Torah did not have a good experience with their dealership. They just got a brand new EV6 and have had some issues. The dealership’s not helping them out. I’m very sorry to hear that. I’m sorry to hear that. that is that completely ruins the experience. Buying a car should be so much fun and it should be something that isn’t stressful and that you can just go and enjoy. So, I’m very sorry that wasn’t the case for you. Especially with the new vehicle, too. That dealership should definitely be looking up after you. And it sounds like they’re not. That’s very frustrating. I’m not sure if you’re Ontario based. If there’s anything that we can do to help you out, we would deal. Oh, Toronto. Yeah. Um I was late to this party size-wise. How does it compare to the STOs in Sportage? So, funny enough, we actually have a STOs in the bay right now. Perfect. So, it is smaller than the Kia Stos. It’s also going to be lower than the Kia Stos. Another difference is the Kia Nero is available only as front-wheel drive, whereas the Kia Stos can be frontwheel drive or all-wheel drive. But that being said, there’s three different powertrain options for the Kanero. And there is only two for the Seltos with both of them being gas only. One’s naturally aspirated, one’s turbocharged, and that is at this point. So, here is the Kia Stose from the side. You can see it’s certainly more upright and a little bit more of an SUV versus the crossover that the Nero is. Styling wise, they’re very, very different, but depending on what kind of tech or comfort functions you’re looking for, you can find just about both in either or. Now, the Kia Stos does have a bit more trim variability simply because I mean it’s a gas car. There’s only one real STOs versus the Nero. If you’re at the PHEV, there’s only three different trim levels. Hybrid has four and then the electric has three. So, I guess there actually is more trim variability in the Nero. I was going to say there’s a ton. Just depends on what the math. All right, let’s drop this back down. We’re trying out a new gimbal. Thank you, Adele. We finally opened up the How long today? I haven’t seen today. I saw him on. Um, any news on the 2026 Hyundai venue? Do you know if there will be a redesign? Also, hello. New here. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us and thank you for sticking around, too, if you’re new here and you’re on the channel. Um, there’s been nothing confirmed for the Venue. The Venue is one of those cars that we hear nothing about ever. And then so we think it’s honestly one of key and Hundai’s more forgotten vehicles, which is unfortunate because I think it’s truly fantastic. Yeah. Uh I think that it’s a great vehicle. It’s uh I was going to say no, it’s probably not Hyundai’s most affordable vehicle. It is. Yeah, it is. It would with the new Elantre. Yeah. Okay. But um yeah, it’s one of those vehicles where sometimes cycles in, cycles out, and there’s no Yeah. Um audio’s popping a little bit. I’ve noticed in some of our recent pre-recorded videos that the audio has not been great and I don’t know how to fix it. So, if anyone I can take a look at this after. Yeah. If anyone’s techsavvy and has any tips, let us know. We are not We may be young, but we do not understand tech. No, like phone tech. That is car tech. Yes. This not so much. We’re new here. anything about like electricity. The second my husband starts talking about it in like a home sense, I’m like, but when I’m talking about a car, I’m like, let me tell you, let me tell you all about it. All right, you guys. I think we’re we’re at 26 minutes now. Should we end off today’s video? Yes. Yes. I didn’t have anything to follow up with that. All right. Thank you guys so so much for watching. We hope to see you again on tomorrow’s video, but there will be a misinformation Monday. So, if you’re still available, stick around. We’re going to start that pretty much right after the stream ends. And we will see you guys there. See you. Bye.
Do you want a cross over that doesn’t compromise? Meet the Kia Niro PHEV! In today’s video, Gabi and Charlotte provide a full walkthrough of the Niro PHEV EX.
Model Shown: 2025 Kia Niro PHEV EX
MSRP: $38,795.00 CAD + Fees and Taxes
SPECS:
1.6L GDI Engine
HORSEPOWER: 180
TORQUE : 195 lb.-ft.
ELECTRIC RANGE: Up to 53 km
COLOUR: City Scape Green
KEY FEATURES:
Rear Parking Sensors
Heated Front Seats + Steering Wheel
10.25” NAV + Media Screen
Highway Drive Assist
& MUCH MORE
Check Out Our Niro PHEV Playlist! https://www.youtube.com/live/FloKnLIPGBc?si=0WzmP1inSioRx9Xx
Thanks for watching – Gabi and Charlotte
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