New Kia Niro owner… any tips?

Just got a 2025 Kia Niro SX, basically my dream car. Thought the fuel economy would be better, but it’s about the same as my Kia Forte. Any advice?

Did you get the PHEV or the Hybrid? Try to keep acceleration smooth, use regen braking as much as possible, and stick to steady speeds. That should help with fuel efficiency.

rick said:
Did you get the PHEV or the Hybrid? Try to keep acceleration smooth, use regen braking as much as possible, and stick to steady speeds. That should help with fuel efficiency.

It’s the regular HEV.

@Victor
What kind of mileage are you getting? Also, do you mostly drive on highways or in the city?

rick said:
@Victor
What kind of mileage are you getting? Also, do you mostly drive on highways or in the city?

Not the original poster, but I also got a ‘25 SX HEV in September. I drive 30km each way to work, mostly highway, and I’m averaging 4.9L/100km. I’d say I have a pretty aggressive driving style. Once got it as low as 3.8L/100km in the city when I really focused on using regen braking with the paddle shifters. Love this car. Traded in a ‘23 Seltos and cut my fuel costs by two-thirds, it’s crazy.

rick said:
Did you get the PHEV or the Hybrid? Try to keep acceleration smooth, use regen braking as much as possible, and stick to steady speeds. That should help with fuel efficiency.

Regen braking feels weird though. Is it actually better than regular braking?

@Chris
Yeah, it makes a big difference. Regen braking charges your battery way more than normal braking and also saves wear on your brake pads and discs. In my 2021 model, regen level 3 gets the battery almost fully charged, whereas regular braking barely does anything.

@alexander
Didn’t realize auto regen and nav cruise don’t work together. Good to know. And yeah, lane assist is amazing. Picked up mine and drove from Toronto to Montreal the same day, made the drive way less tiring.

TurboSoulMate said:
@Chris
Anyone else get that message about not using regen while in cruise control… even when cruise isn’t on?

Happened to me a few times, but only when it was really cold and the engine wasn’t warmed up yet.

@Miltan
Yeah, same here. Pretty annoying.

Are you using regen braking, paddle shifters, or nav smart cruise? Also, what’s the weather like where you are? I’m just outside Toronto. Got the same car in September, and in warm weather I was getting as low as 3.8L/100km, but in winter it’s closer to 5L/100km.

@Brandy
Still figuring all that out. I’m in Vancouver, BC.

Victor said:
@Brandy
Still figuring all that out. I’m in Vancouver, BC.

Same here when I first got mine. First HEV, had no clue how things worked. Watched a ton of YouTube videos, and this forum has been super helpful. Just found out recently that if you hold the left paddle, the car will come to a full stop using regen. Hold the right one, and it switches to auto mode. Auto regen is great for highway driving, especially with nav smart cruise.

@Brandy
That’s interesting.

@Brandy
Nav smart cruise cancels out auto regen. If you have auto regen on while driving around town, then turn on smart cruise on the highway, the auto indicator disappears. If you try turning auto regen back on, you get a message saying it’s not compatible with cruise control. But if you turn cruise off, auto regen comes back if it was on before. Also, lane keep assist is a game changer. Helps a lot on long drives. If you activate auto hold too, it makes city driving much easier. Loving my little Kia.