If you’re in the market for something that’s efficient and easy to drive how does a small crossover SUV that can make 76.6 mpg as a hybrid crossover sound. Yes, this vehicle made 76.6 mpg on the average during a trip that crossed the country from City Hall in Los Angeles to City Hall in New York City. That’s an astounding figure that should be plastered all over every piece of advertising for this little SUV. The fact this wasn’t some tiny city only car is amazing in its own right, and the mark set is certainly impressive.
What vehicle is it that made this trek and reached the lofty number if 76.6 mpg on average during the trip? This vehicle is the new Kia Niro which is a brand new crossover SUV in the compact class that’s built as a dedicated hybrid. This SUV is made to bridge the gap between fuel efficiency and the versatility of an SUV giving us a blend of both to enjoy, but the expectations weren’t that this SUV would be able to make this trip and have the fuel mileage number of 76.6 mpg as the average for the entire route. It’s like having their classic Sportage SUV, but with significantly greater gas mileage.
The Niro offers you an attractive and athletic look and comes in vive trim levels, FE, LE, EX, Touring and Launch Edition. The FE is the base model and its rated for 49 city/52 hwy mpg while the LX will give us 46 city/51 hwy mpg and the Touring is rated at 40 city/46 hwy mpg. The Niro offers a more engaged driving experience than most hybrids and its made to offer you plenty of room for five to ride with their gear for any adventure you can find out in the road or in the wilderness.
As it arrives later in the first quarter of this year, the Kia Niro will offer you the availability of safety features such as Autonomous Emergency Braking, Blind Spot Detection, Rear Cross Traffic Alerts, Lane Change Assist, Lane Departure Warnings, as well as the UVO3 system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You’ll love the Smart Cruise Control, the navigation system and the Harman/Kardon premium audio system if these are options you choose for your own Kia Niro. Of course, we should get back to discussing how impressive this recent trek across the country was that resulted in 76.6 mpg from this SUV.
In an attempt set a new Guinness World Record the Niro Ex model from Kia was driven by Wayne Gerdes and Robert Winger. This trek spanned a full 3715.4 miles of city and highway driving during which the Niro was able to achieve 76.6 mpg on the average. This full ride only used 48.5 gallons of gas which was 4.1 tanks worth in the Niro. This was done in a stock built vehicle; no alterations were made to the vehicle at all during the journey, making the Niro the most impressive hybrid vehicle in terms of fuel efficiency that’s ever been built.
When you consider the amazing trip this pair made in the SUV, the cost of gas to cross the country (assuming an average price per gallon of $2.25) was only $109.13. It’s hard to imagine driving around town or to the next town for this little on a regular basis, let alone driving well over 3,000 miles across the country. This is a serious achievement by Kia and they certainly need to capitalize on this accomplishment and plaster the 76.6 mpg number all over the Niro at every single dealership in the country. I’m still floored by that number which is simply amazing and changes the game for small hybrid crossovers.
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