Plain-English vehicle guide

Kia Niro EV charging

The Kia Niro EV is an electric suv. You fill it from a J1772 plug at home and from a CCS1 plug on a long drive, and its longest 2026 version is rated at 253 miles on a full battery. Every number below says which version of the car it belongs to, and the two sliders below turn a charge into a time and a price.

Find a CCS1 charger Plan a charge All Kia models

Official range (EPA)

253 mi

2026 Niro Electric

How far a full battery is rated to go on the US test.

Battery size

64.8 kWh

Kia Niro EV

The size of the tank. Bigger means more miles between stops.

Fastest charge

94 kW

10–80% in 41 min

How wide the hose is at a fast charger.

Plugs it uses

CCS1

J1772 at home and slow posts

The shape that has to fit the socket.

Price from

$39,600

2026 Wind

Before tax, delivery and incentives. 1 version priced, up to $39,600.

The range and battery cards name different versions on purpose. One is the longest 2026 row the EPA tested, the other is the catalogue's charging record — because the EPA lists a range per trim and the catalogue lists one battery per trim. The price is a third source again: the cheapest version on the price sheet, which is not always the version the other two cards describe. Nothing below quietly mixes them.

SUV · 2019–2026 · FWD

5 seats. 475 L of boot space plus a 20 L front trunk. The photo is the model the catalogue lists, not a photo of a particular car for sale.

Start here

Six terms, in plain words

None of this needs a physics degree. Each term on a window sticker is one idea, and here they are in the order they turn up.

EPA range

A score from one official test.

The car runs on a rolling road until the battery is empty. Every car sits the same test, so the numbers compare fairly. It is a lab score, not a promise: a cold morning or a steady 75 mph uses more energy than the test did.

US trim

A version of the same car.

The body is the same; the wheels, motors or battery are not. A model is usually sold in several versions — Pure, Touring and Grand Touring on this car — and the EPA publishes a range for each one it tested, which is why one model carries several numbers for one year.

kWh

The size of the tank.

A kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy. A bigger battery holds more of it and goes further. This page shows the usable figure where the data says so, because a pack never gives up every last bit.

kW

How wide the hose is.

A kilowatt is a rate: energy per second. The same battery fills from a 1.4 kW wall socket or a 200 kW-plus fast charger. Wide hose, quicker fill — as long as the car and the station both agree.

AC and DC

Two kinds of electricity.

Home wiring supplies AC, and the car's own charger turns it into DC. A fast charger does that conversion in the station and feeds the battery directly, which is why it is many times quicker.

10–80%

The happy middle of a battery.

Packs accept full power in the middle and slow right down past 80% to protect the cells. That is why a road-trip stop is usually 10% to 80%: the last fifth can take as long as the first half.

Range

How far can it go on one charge?

The Kia Niro EV is rated between 253 and 253 miles on a full battery, depending on the version; the highest belongs to the 2026 Niro Electric.

The official figure comes from the EPA, the US agency that scores every car the same way: a full battery, a rolling road, and a number of miles at the end. It is the fair way to compare two cars, and still only a lab score — wind, hills, heaters and speed all take a bite out of it.

Check any car on fueleconomy.gov

Model year

In 2026, the Kia Niro EV was rated between 253 mi and 253 mi on a full battery, depending on the version.

Niro Electric
253 mi

Trim names are the EPA's own labels, unedited, so “G Touring” is short for Grand Touring. Each row is a version the EPA tested; a version it did not test has no row. Figures are miles on the EPA's lab test, not a prediction of your commute.

Charging time

How long does a charge take?

A 10–80% fast stop takes about 41 minutes at a charger that can deliver the car's peak, and a full charge on a 7.2 kW home charger takes about 10 hours.

Three things decide it, and the slowest one wins: what the station can supply, what the car will accept, and how much the battery wants at that moment. Move the sliders and the answer changes with you.

Step 1 — where are you plugging in?

The usual highway stop. The Kia Niro EV tops out at 94 kW on DC, so a bigger station will not go faster.

Step 2 — how full is the battery, and how full do you want it?

0%80% — most cars slow down here100%

Start at20%Stop at80%

60% of the battery, from 20% to 80%.

Step 3 — what do you pay per kWh?

Your charge

Time at this charger: 35 min
Cost: $13.61
Energy: 38.9 kWh

About a lunch stop. The session draws about 66 kW on average — a peak figure would be a promise the last part of the charge does not keep.

Times use the 64.8 kWh battery and 94 kW DC peak from the Kia Niro EV record, and scale from its 41-minute 10–80% figure. Above 80% the estimate assumes a much slower rate; cold batteries and shared stations can be slower still.

The station

1.4–350 kW

A wall socket gives about 1.4 kW; a highway post 150–350 kW. The site's rating is a ceiling, not a promise.

The car

11 kW AC

The car takes no more than its own limit — 94 kW on DC, 11 kW on AC. A bigger charger cannot change that.

The battery

slower past 80%

Above 80% the pack asks for far less power to protect the cells, which is why trips stop at 80%.

The reasoning behind those numbers is on how long EV charging takes and Level 2 vs DC fast.

Plugs

Which plug fits this car?

Only two shapes matter: the one on the car and the one on the charger. The AC plug covers home charging and slow public posts; the DC plug covers fast stops on a trip.

J1772

AC charging

SAE J1772 · Typically 3.3–19.2 kW

J1772 is the AC connector on almost every non-Tesla EV and plug-in hybrid sold in North America. At public stations it is usually a Level 2 charger.

Where you meet it: destination charging while parked.

More about J1772 Stations with this plug

Photo: Michael Hicks (mulad) · CC BY 2.0

CCS1

DC charging

SAE J1772 CCS Combo 1 · Typically 50–350 kW

CCS1 is the DC fast connector on most non-Tesla EVs in North America. It keeps the J1772 shape for the AC pins and adds two DC pins underneath.

Where you meet it: fast charging on a longer trip.

More about CCS1 Stations with this plug

Photo: Ken Fields · CC BY-SA 2.0

An adapter changes the shape of the plug, not what the car can accept or what the station can supply. It can bridge a standard; it cannot create power, access or a faster session.

This page lists the connectors the model reports. The directory records the connector a station reports, so a station that carries both a J1772 post and a CCS1 fast charger appears under each — and a car is not guaranteed a free one.

Cost

What does a charge cost?

Charging is priced by the kilowatt-hour, like electricity at home. The directory's median tariff is $0.35 per kWh — the middle of the prices networks actually list, not a quote for any one station.

At that median, filling the 64.8 kWh battery from empty at a DC post bills about $23.87. A 10–80% stop, the usual road-trip habit, moves about 70% of it and bills about $16.71. Type your own price into the calculator above to see your number instead.

Both figures are metered energy, not battery energy: a DC post puts roughly 95% of what it draws into the pack, so the bill sits slightly above battery × price. At home the conversion is closer to 90%. What is not in either figure: session fees, idle fees, parking and taxes. The state cost table has the local medians, and cost per mile turns this into a comparison with petrol.

Sources

US figures from the October 2026 data build. How these sources are chosen, and what a figure here never claims, is on the methodology page.

Full charge

$23.87

At $0.35 per kWh at a DC post, charging losses included.

10–80% stop

$16.71

About 70% of the battery, which is what most trips use.

Cheapest state median

$0.28

Iowa, per kWh — the lowest state median with a comparable sample.

Priced stations

3,805

Stations in the directory that publish a per-kWh tariff.

CalculatorPrice a charge for your state and your tariff

Prices

What it costs, version by version

The 2026 Kia Niro EV starts at $39,600 for the Wind and reaches $39,600 for the Wind. 1 version is listed for that model year.

These are manufacturer list prices, as the price sheet records them. They are not a quote: sales tax, destination and delivery charges, options and any incentive are outside them, and a dealer's number will differ.

Price sheet · October 2026

Starts at

$39,600

Wind, 2026.

Top version

$39,600

Wind — the dearest version listed.

Versions priced

Model year 2026. Earlier or later years are not in the sheet.

Per mile of range

$157

$50 below the median across every priced model here. List price divided by the sheet's own rated range on the cheapest version.

List prices by version for the Kia Niro EV
Version	Year	Drive	Battery	DC peak	0–100 km/h	List price
WindCheapest	2026	FWD	64.8 kWh	85 kW	7.4 s	$39,600

The Wind, in numbers

Price sheet

Seats: 5
Cargo volume: 645 L (22.8 cu ft)
Front trunk: 20 L (0.7 cu ft)
Towing: 750 kg (1,653.465 lb)
Curb weight: 1,688 kg (3,721.399 lb)
Top speed: 167 km/h (103.769 mph)
Power: 150 kW (201.153 hp)
Torque: 255 Nm (188.078 lb-ft)
Onboard AC charger: 11 kW
Battery chemistry: NMC
Vehicle-to-load: Yes
Plug and charge: No

The table names versions, not trims the EPA tested. A price row and an EPA row can therefore differ in wording even when they describe the same car — the sheet writes “Wind” where the label may write something else. The EPA rows are listed below, unedited.

Rated range is in this sheet too, but it is not printed here: it disagrees with the EPA label on a handful of rows, and two range figures for one car on one page is a page that argues with itself. The price-per-mile figure above stays inside the sheet's own numbers. The longest-legged version in the sheet is the Wind at 253 miles of rated range (407 km).

Battery, DC peak and the 0–100 time are the sheet's own per-version figures, which is why they can differ from the single catalogue record in the specifications section: a model sold in several battery sizes has one number per size, not one number for the car. 1 mile = 1.609 km.

These are list prices, not quotes. For the whole field side by side, see every model ranked by price.

US trims

Every version, year by year

This is the list the chart above is drawn from. The names are the EPA's own labels, kept exactly as published — spelling, abbreviations and all — because rewriting a source label is how a table stops matching its source.

8 rows from fueleconomy.gov

Show every EPA row (8)Year · trim · range

US trims and EPA range for the Kia Niro EV
Year	Trim	EPA range
2026	Niro Electric	253 mi
2025	Niro Electric	253 mi
2024	Niro Electric	253 mi
2023	Niro Electric	253 mi
2022	Niro Electric	239 mi
2021	Niro Electric	239 mi
2020	Niro Electric	239 mi
2019	Niro Electric	239 mi

EPA figures are the US label; they are not converted from WLTP. A trim the EPA does not list has no row, and an all-wheel-drive version of a rear-drive model appears as its own row because the EPA tested it separately.

Catalogue detail

Specifications

From the European catalogue trim Kia Niro EV (2022). US trims, EPA range and connectors are above; equipment and dimensions can differ by market.

Performance

Performance from the European catalogue trim
Power	150 kW (201 hp)
Torque	255 Nm (188 lb-ft)
0–100 km/h	7.8 s
Top speed	167 km/h (104 mph)
Drivetrain	FWD
Platform	HMG K3

Battery, range and V2X

Battery, range and V2X from the European catalogue trim
Usable battery	64.8 kWh
Nominal battery	68 kWh
Chemistry	Lithium-ion
Nominal voltage	358 V
Cell count	96 cells
Pack configuration	96s1p
Warranty	7 years / 150,000 km
WLTP range (EU)	385 km (239 mi)
Efficiency (WLTP)	16.4 kWh/100 km
Cold highway (catalogue estimate)	250 km (155 mi)
Mild urban (catalogue estimate)	443 km (275 mi)
V2L	3.6 kW AC
V2H	Not supported
V2G	Not supported

WLTP and catalogue estimates describe the European trim; EPA range is above. V2X rows are the maker's catalogue equipment.

Dimensions and practicality

Dimensions and practicality from the European catalogue trim
Length	4,420 mm (174 in)
Height	1,570 mm (61.8 in)
Wheelbase	2,720 mm (107.1 in)
Curb weight	1,757 kg (3,874 lb)
GVWR	2,200 kg (4,850 lb)
Payload	518 kg (1,142 lb)
Turning circle	10.6 m (34.8 ft)
Boot	475 L (16.8 cu ft)
Max cargo	1,392 L (49.2 cu ft)
Frunk	20 L (0.7 cu ft)
Towing (braked)	750 kg (1,653 lb)
Towing (unbraked)	300 kg (661 lb)
Seats	5
Segment	JC - Medium
ISOFIX	Yes, 2 seats
Roof rails	Yes
Heat pump	Standard Equipment

Safety (Euro NCAP)

Safety (Euro NCAP) from the European catalogue trim
Euro NCAP rating	5 stars (2022)
Adult occupant	91%
Child occupant	84%
Vulnerable road users	75%
Active safety	60%

Euro NCAP result for the European model; it is not a US NHTSA or IIHS rating.

Questions

Answers, briefly

Short answers first, the reasoning below each. Every figure here comes from the same data as the rest of the page.

Still unsure about a term? The charging glossary covers the rest of them.

What connector does the Kia Niro EV use?

It lists J1772 for AC charging and CCS1 for DC fast charging. J1772 is what a home charger and a slow public post use; CCS1 is the fast plug for a longer trip. An adapter may bridge another standard, but support varies by vehicle and station.

How long does it take to charge a Kia Niro EV?

The catalogue's 64.8 kWh usable battery and 94 kW DC peak give a 10–80% session of about 41 minutes at a station that can deliver the power. AC charging peaks at 11 kW, which suits overnight charging rather than a trip stop.

What is the EPA range of the Kia Niro EV?

The 2026 Kia Niro EV is rated between 253 and 253 miles, depending on the trim. The highest figure belongs to the Niro Electric; every model year the EPA tested is listed on the page, and each row is a different version of the same car.

What does "US trim" mean on this page?

A trim is a version of the same car: same body, different wheels, motors or battery. The EPA tests each version separately, so one model can carry several range figures for the same year. Bigger wheels are the usual reason two rows differ, because they add drag and rolling resistance.

How much does it cost to charge a Kia Niro EV?

At the directory's median of $0.35 per kWh, filling the 64.8 kWh battery from empty at a DC post bills about $23.87, and a 10–80% session about $16.71. Both are metered energy, so the charging loss is inside them. The median is the middle of the per-kWh tariffs networks list; session fees, idle fees and parking are excluded, and a home tariff is often cheaper.

Can a Kia Niro EV use a Tesla Supercharger?

The Kia Niro EV's fast-charge plug is CCS1. Some Tesla sites in this directory report a CCS1 plug; whether a particular site accepts an adapter is not recorded, so filter the map for CCS1 before you rely on one.

How much does a Kia Niro EV cost?

The 2026 Kia Niro EV is listed from $39,600 for the Wind up to $39,600 for the Wind. Those are manufacturer list prices before sales tax, destination and delivery charges, options and any incentive, and a dealer's number will differ. 1 versions are priced for that model year.

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