Kia has introduced a new mid-rung variant of its Kia e-Niro EV which makes the 64kWh range-topping battery pack available in the sub-£35,000 price bracket, and therefore eligible for the government's £2500 plug-in car grant.
Last week, the government cut the plug-in car grant from £3000 to £2500, and lowered the threshold from £50,000 to £35,000 - meaning several electric cars at the lower end of the price spectrum became ineligible for the subsidy. The e-Niro range was effectively cut in two, with the shorter-range 39kWh variant remaining eligible, but the longer-range 64kWh car excluded from the grant.
Now, Kia has added the new e-Niro '2' Long Range, which pairs elements of the entry-level trim package with the bigger battery of more expensive variants. It is available to order now, and customer deliveries will begin in July.
Priced from £34,945 before the grant (so £32,445 on-the-road), the new model is capable of an official 282-mile range, and can be charged from empty to 80% capacity in less than an hour using a 100kW fast charger.
Kia claims the new model offers "more range than any other sub-£35,000 electric vehicle".
The 2 Long Range also uses the e-Niro's higher-output 201bhp electric motor, so gets from 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds and tops out at 108mph.
Standard equipment comes from the entry-level e-Niro, so the infotainment touchscreen is an 8.0in item and the wheels are 17in in diameter. But smartphone mirroring functionality is equipped as standard, as are a reversing camera, rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control and keyless start.
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It's just another example of making stats to turn out however you want them to turn. For Gov to say most EV's sold was already under the £35k threshold was, I very much suspect, misleading.
The change has only just come into effect and thats another manufacturer having to introduce a new model or changing the list price of an exisiting one.
Autocar, was this deliberate?, two put articles of two cars with the same EV power?, one that qualified for the £2,500 and one that didn't?