Should I buy a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid or a Kia Niro Hybrid?

The 2023 Kia Niro is yet to be tested by either ANCAP or Euro NCAP and does not yet carry a safety rating.

All variants in the range come with autonomous emergency braking including car, pedestrian, cyclist and intersection intervention. Lane-keep and lane-follow assist, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alert and avoidance, and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go can also be found in each variant.

A reversing camera, rear park sensors, driver attention alert, intelligent speed limit assist, and rear seat reminder are also along for the ride.

The 2022 Toyota RAV4 range scored a five-star ANCAP result having been tested back in 2019.

It did well in two areas in particular: adult occupant protection (93 per cent) and child occupant protection (89 per cent).

Across the range, the 2022 Toyota RAV4 features plenty of advanced driver assist systems. They include Toyota Safety Sense with lane-keeping assist and departure alert, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, speed sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, and auto high beams.

There’s also blind-spot monitoring, trailer sway control, and front and rear parking sensors. On top of the decent safety package all Toyota RAV4s have, the Cruiser model also benefits from a 360-degree-view parking camera.

With the electric vehicle landscape fast-evolving, Kia’s gamble on Niro pricing is a high-stakes one.

With a $44,380 start price, the Kia Niro Hybrid S is more expensive than any similarly sized (and cheaper) Toyota C-HR variant, but the Niro is more than $2000 less than the cheapest plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

In terms of ongoing costs, the Niro Hybrid is available with pay-as-you-go capped-price servicing, which will tally up to $4010 over seven years. The Niro Electric is available with a choice of pay per visit or pre-paid service plans. In each case, you’ll pay $1754 over seven years.

During the Niro launch drive, we sampled both the Hybrid and Electric in Adelaide and the surrounding Adelaide hills. Against a 4.0L/100km claim, the Niro Hybrid used an indicated 5.5L/100km.

It will cost about $1028 per year to get comprehensive insurance on a Kia Niro, which is quite affordable, although this quote is based on the 2022 model and not the 2023 update.

In terms of value for money, the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid 2WD is impressive. No other vehicle in the medium SUV segment offers the same highly efficient closed-loop hybrid system that sees fuel consumption as low as 5.0L/100km on the daily grind.

The closest pick is the 2022 Subaru Forester Hybrid S for $47,190 before on-road costs, but it is not as sophisticated nor as efficient as the Toyota. The Haval H6 Hybrid ($45,990 drive-away) is balanced more toward performance than outright efficiency, though it does save fuel, but not as effectively as the RAV4.

In terms of maintenance costs, Toyota expects you to return a RAV4 Cruiser for servicing every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. Services are capped at $230 a pop in the first five years, meaning three years cost $690 and five years $1150. That makes the Toyota RAV4 light on the hip pocket once you’ve stumped up the cash to buy one.

Toyota claims the RAV4 Hybrid 2WD uses 4.7L/100km in combined-cycle testing. In mixed use on test, we recorded a close-to-claim 5.0L/100km.

A comprehensive insurance policy for the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid will cost around $1315 per year, which is higher than average for a medium SUV.

The Niro has jumped massively between generations. Quieter, smoother, and all-around nicer to drive, the 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid ticks all the boxes.

Ride quality errs towards firm for tootling around town, but at no stage is it too harsh or uncomfortable.

Performance is pleasingly peppy around town, without bordering on performance territory. Perhaps the most significant difference, for anyone used to a Toyota hybrid, is Kia’s use of a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which has a positive impact on acceleration and delivers a hybrid that feels much more traditional to drive.

Under the bonnet lives a 77kW/144Nm 1.6-litre engine that works in conjunction with a 32kW/170Nm electric motor for a combined 104kW and 265Nm. The on-tap torque available makes for good rolling acceleration, and the package is refined and quiet overall.

Around town, the 2022 Toyota RAV4 Cruiser rides really well. It’s a standout point, with its soft suspension tune returning great bump absorption. The large 18-inch wheels on the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser are the only things with bothers, as some low-speed unsettledness is probably caused by their introduction to be frank.

The steering feels surprisingly meaty for a Toyota, which means in reality it’s just about right. The Toyota Corolla and Yaris pair feature far lighter steering, which I know can be divisive to some drivers.

Out on country roads, you’ll get the odd sensation of rolling and pitching as the speed increases, but both of those will be appreciated by some drivers too. It’s not offensive either when it happens, and if anything will help a novice driver stay alert.

Toyota has spent well over two decades refining its closed-loop hybrid powertrain and it clearly shows. Upon start-up, it’ll remain silent and indicate it’s time to go, with the first few metres of most journeys being a silent and all-electric affair.

If you have the heater maxed or other ancillaries on, it will determine whether the 131kW/221Nm petrol 2.5-litre four-cylinder fires up, but if it does, you probably won’t notice over the radio anyway.

It sparks up quiet and unobtrusively, which is half this car’s secret. It’s calibrated really well, and that’s to help you save fuel (and money). The electric engine in Eco mode will do the heavy lifting wherever it can, meaning stop-start traffic scenarios are where Toyota’s hybrid system best performs.

The worst part of the whole experience is tyre noise, however, as it’s clear that Toyota has been stingy with sound-deadening material around the wheel wells. Sections of coarse-chip freeway resulted in the stereo’s volume needing to be lifted, and the same goes for voices too – it was easy to detect when the conversation became drowned out as the road surface changed.

Other than that, it’s a hard-to-fault experience behind the wheel.

Kia has delivered an excellent small SUV with lively dynamics, a well-designed and spacious interior, and a choice of frugal hybrid or long-range electric models. So there must be a catch, right? Absolutely, and in this case it’s the price. While Kia still lays claim to some of Australia’s cheapest cars at the small end of its range, the Niro is priced like a premium product.

Treading on the toes of bigger hybrids, like the RAV4, and electric cars from Tesla, Polestar and more seems like folly. Yes, the Niro is good, but at the top of the range it’s surrounded by equally good competitors, and is only going to have a harder time as even more competitors join the market.

The 2022 Toyota RAV4 really is the ideal vehicle in this day and age. It’s spacious and has enough room for either an adventurous single or young family of four, probably uses half the amount of fuel of your current car, looks great, and has decent levels of advanced safety systems across the range.

When compared directly against the Kia Niro, the RAV4 is cheaper to buy, cheaper to fuel, and cheaper to service. It is more expensive to insure, however.

If you want a spacious, dependable, safe, and fuel-saving vehicle for under $50,000, then the RAV4 is the better choice.  

However, if your priorities call for a more compact vehicle to drive, and one with a classier and more modern interior – albeit smaller – then the Kia Niro offers a worthwhile alternative to the popular RAV4.