DC162 Critique: 2022 Kia Niro EV

Design Critique: Products for People

David and Jo Lau discuss the five phases of customer experience with their 2022 Kia Niro EV (Encounter, Decision, Purchase, Initial use, and Longitudinal use). Vehicle purchases are often a negotiation of two or more people's preferences and needs in domestic situations, and we are delighted to have talked with the Lau family about their customer journey. The human-machine interfaces (HMI) in the cockpit are the simple and effective designs we're used to seeing from Hyundai-Kia vehicles, and Tim was most impressed with the EV charging indicators on top of the dashboard that face through the windshield: three aqua blue lights convey charge status at a glance, without anyone having to pull out a smart phone. The driving features a tight suspension with enough torque to avoid trouble on the highways. David and Jo share their cost per mile with us as well, which is pleasantly low at current electric rates in their town. Range anxiety is a very real thing but for shorter distances, a BEV is suiting them fine. The Laus are quite pleased with all customer experience phases except Purchase. Listen for an amusingly exasperating story about a tired old sales technique that was attempted on them, but they successfully resisted!

https://www.kia.com/us/en/niro-ev

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