Self-steering and all-electric driving in the 2020 Kia Niro

A few trips around the Northern California Foothills gave us a great opportunity to test all the features of the 2020 Kia Niro plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).

In addition to the great fuel mileage of the hybrid, the Niro has an electric-only range of 26 miles, making it easy to drive around town without using any gas.

But it is the semi-self-driving aspect of the Kia Niro that was most impressive, with adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist helping steer the car for you on the freeway. Amazing!

The plug to fill the vehicle’s battery with electrons is certainly a sweetener. But Kia is not just fiddling around the edges of new technology. The Niro features finely tuned implementations of several awesome advances.

Kia’s Niro  is definitely worthy of a test drive, even if you don’t have Grass Valley and the lovely Sierra Mountain foothills to explore.

Escaping to Lake Tahoe in Ford Escape

 

We escaped to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains to test out the 2020 Ford Escape with 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine and All-Wheel Drive. With all it’s cool technology, including semi-self driving with lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control, the Escape is well-equipped to keep your family safe, comfortable and entertained for long rides.

As an added bonus, there’s a foot-activated tailgate opener that (sometimes) helps you open the tailgate when your hands are full. It’s takes a bit of dancing to get the hang of how it operates, but that just makes it more fun.