Enlarge / This is a prototype of the new Kia EV9 electric SUV, which goes on sale in the last quarter of 2023. (credit: Kia)

Kia has announced pricing for its next electric vehicle as it gets closer to release toward the end of this year. It's the EV9 , a three-row SUV that uses the company's E-GMP architecture, also used to good effect in smaller EVs like the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 . When the EV9 arrives in showrooms, the range will start at $54,900 (plus destination charge).

"We knew we had to get the EV9 pricing right, and we believe today's announcement will be a wake-up call to the industry," said Kia America's COO, Steve Center.

"A well-equipped three-row SUV EV doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive. It should offer the perfect balance of standard features, the ability to fast charge, and be equipped with the technology savvy EV buyers are looking for. The EV9 provides all of this, and we can’t wait for it to go on sale later this year," he said.

Enlarge / Your car's maker can collect data on you from many different sources. (credit: Getty Images)

Today, the Mozilla Foundation published its analysis of how well automakers handle the privacy of data collected by their connected cars, and the results will be unlikely to surprise any regular reader of Ars Technica. The researchers were horrified by their findings , stating that "cars are the worst product category we have ever reviewed for privacy."

Mozilla looked at 25 car brands and found that all of them collected too much personal data, and from multiple sources—monitoring not just which buttons you push or what you do in any of the infotainment system's apps but also data from other sources like satellite radio or third-party maps. Or even when you connect your phone—remember that prompt asking you if you wanted to share all your contacts and notes with your car when you connected it via Bluetooth?

While some gathered data seems innocuous or even helpful—feedback to improve cabin ergonomics and UIs, for example—some data is decidedly not.

Enlarge (credit: Karol Serewis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Good news, electric road-trippers: DC fast chargers are about to become a lot more common. On Wednesday, a group of seven major automakers announced a plan to create a new charging network of more than 30,000 chargers across North America starting next year.

BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis are creating a joint venture to significantly expand the number of fast charging sites in the US and Canada. The sites will use the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure guidelines , which means, among other things, 97 percent uptime for each charging port. The sites will support both CCS1 and NACS plugs , and the chargers will also support the plug-and-charge protocol.

"North America is one of the world’s most important car markets—with the potential to be a leader in electromobility. Accessibility to high-speed charging is one of the key enablers to accelerate this transition. Therefore, seven automakers are forming this joint venture with the goal of creating a positive charging experience for EV consumers. The BMW Group is proud to be among the founders," said BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse.

Enlarge / We used this image of an Ars staffer's stolen Hyundai to illustrate how common the thefts were in February 2022. Since then, one of this author's neighbors had a Kia broken into, and another had a joyride Hyundai ditched on his lawn after crashing through his fence. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Hyundai and Kia will pay out $200 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement, compensating roughly 9 million people for their losses after a 2022 social media trend revealed how relatively simple it was to steal certain models.

As reported by Reuters , $145 million of the payout goes to the out-of-pocket expenses of those whose cars were stolen. Many Kias made between 2011-2021, and Hyundais from 2015-2021, lacked electronic engine immobilizers, which would prevent a car from starting unless an electronically matched key was present. Without the immobilizer, the car could be started by turning the ignition with other objects, such as a USB-A cable that thieves discovered was a perfect fit.

Customers whose cars were totaled are eligible for up to $6,125, while damaged vehicles and property can receive a maximum of $3,375, along with costs for raised insurance, car rental, towing, tickets, and others. Kia and Hyundai had previously pledged to provide free software upgrades to vehicles and free wheel locks (i.e. The Club ), typically in coordination with regional police departments. The NHTSA said in February that the companies have given out 26,000 wheel locks since November 2022.

Enlarge / This is the second-generation Kia Niro EV, and it is a rather great little electric vehicle. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Last month, we reviewed a great little hybrid , the 2023 Kia Niro. In fact, Kia offers this little hatchback with three different efficient powertrains, and today we're looking at the entirely electric version, the 2023 Kia Niro EV. Ditching the internal combustion engine and replacing it with a slab of lithium-ion cells pushes the price up somewhat—starting at $39,550, the Niro EV is almost $11,000 more expensive than the parallel hybrid version—but on the upside, you get a right-sized electric car that's extremely efficient, particularly on short journeys.

This Kia Niro EV is in fact the second Niro EV we've tested— the first impressed us mightily when we reviewed it back in 2020. The technical specifications of the battery electric powertrain are actually very similar to those in the previous version. There's a 64.8 kWh lithium-ion traction battery between the axles, which powers a 201 hp (150 kW) electric motor that drives the front wheels.

The contrasting panel on the C pillar conceals an aeroblade, which is a channel that directs airflow to the rear of the car to reduce drag. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

The all-electric powertrain adds a fair bit of mass to the Niro; its curb weight of 3,721–3,803 lbs (1,688–1,725 kg) makes it almost 20 percent heavier than the parallel hybrid version. But in addition to having more power, the Niro EV makes a lot more torque—188 lb-ft (255 Nm), in fact—so it feels much peppier to drive.

Enlarge / It's not fast, expensive, or particularly luxurious, but we keep being very impressed with the Kia Niro. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

The Kia Niro is one of those cars that just continues to impress us. It's now in its second generation, with slightly bolder—definitely more angular—styling but still the same highly efficient powertrain options. There's a fully electric version, and a plug-in hybrid, too, but today's review is of the parallel hybrid variant. Ars spent an hour or two driving one last October , but we've now had a week of living with a 2023 Niro at home, and if anything, our respect for this solid little hybrid has only grown.

Kia calls the Niro a crossover but parked next to a neighbor's Volvo XC40, it's obvious how much lower the Niro rides. For all intents and purposes, you can think of it as a family hatchback, the kind of car that conquered Europe in the '80s but always struggled here in the US. Kia's design team opted for more straight lines for their second take on the Niro, but it's not a design that looks or feels threatening, unlike so much of the metal that comes from Detroit these days.

It's 174 inches (4,420 mm) long, 71.8 inches (1,824 mm) wide, and 60.8 inches (1,544 mm) high if you count the roof rails. The wheelbase is 107 inches (2,720 mm) long. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

There are some interesting design details that kept catching my eye. The headlight cluster has some rather intricate detailing, as does the turn signal embedded in the end of either side mirror. Our test car came with a contrasting color on the bodywork behind the rear doors—more than just cladding, this also houses a functional aeroblade that sends air through it to clean up the flow at the rear of the car. I've started seeing Niros around town with body-colored aeroblades now, so you always have that option if you're not into two-tone cars.

Enlarge / With a starting price of $26,500, it's no surprise that Chevrolet has sold a lot of Bolt EVs this year. (credit: General Motors)

As we're now in the second quarter of the year, automakers have been reporting their sales numbers. Tesla, which we covered on Monday , is far and away the leader when it comes to electric vehicle sales in the US. But as more and more automakers are bringing new EVs to market, Tesla's market share is eroding, from 72 percent at the beginning of last year to 54 percent now— and it may fall to less than 50 percent over the next few weeks . Which of those other automakers are managing to move metal? We took a look through the Q1 sales announcements to get an idea.

While most automakers have published their Q1 2023 sales, this is not a universal list. In particular, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Lucid, and Genesis have yet to reveal those numbers as of April 5. And the manufacturers don't all break out data in the same way, either lumping all EVs together (looking at you, General Motors) or grouping different powertrains together (as is the case with the Kia Niro and Hyundai Kona).

It's also helpful to remember that, other than Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, all the other automakers have product lines other than battery EVs, so such a company probably isn't going out of business next week because it only sold 3,000 EVs in three months. Supply chains still aren't back to what was considered normal pre-pandemic, and it's worth remembering that in most cases, these are global products. There are severe penalties for automakers who don't sell enough EVs in Europe and China, unlike here in the US. So in cases of finite supply, those markets will receive priority when it comes to deliveries—every EV you sell in the US is an EV you can't sell in Germany, after all.