2021 KIA NIRO HYBRID EV Owners Manual

511
Driving your vehicle
Illuminated ENGINE
START/STOP button
Whenever the front door is opened,
the ENGINE START/STOP button
will illuminate for your convenience.
The light will go off after about 30
seconds when the door is closed.
When all entrances are closed, if you
lock the vehicle by using the trans-
mitter or the smart key, the light will
go off immediately.
ENGINE START/STOP button
position
OFF
To turn off the engine (START/RUN
position) or vehicle power (ON posi-
tion), press the ENGINE
START/STOP button with the shift
lever in the P (Park) position. When
you press the ENGINE
START/STOP button without the shift
lever in the P (Park) position, the
ENGINE START/STOP button will
not change to the OFF position but to
the ACC position.In an emergency situation while the
vehicle is in motion, you are able to
turn the engine off and to the ACC
position by pressing the ENGINE
START/STOP button for more than 2
seconds or 3 times successively
within 3 seconds. If the vehicle is still
moving, you can restart the engine
without depressing the brake pedal
by pressing the ENGINE
START/STOP button with the shift
lever in the N (Neutral) position.
ENGINE START/STOP BUTTON (IF EQUIPPED)
ODEP059004
Not illuminated

Driving your vehicle
12 5
ACC(Accessory)
Press the ENGINE START/STOP
button while it is in the OFF position
without depressing the brake pedal.
If the ENGINE START/STOP button
is in the ACC position for more than
1 hour, the button is turned off auto-
matically to prevent battery dis-
charge.
ON
Press the ENGINE START/STOP
button while it is in the ACC position
without depressing the brake pedal.
The warning lights can be checked
before the engine is started. Do not
leave the ENGINE START/STOP
button in the ON position for a long
time. The battery may discharge,
because the engine is not running.
START/RUN
To start the engine, depress the
brake pedal and press the ENGINE
START/ STOP button with the shift
lever in the P (Park) position. For
your safety, start the engine with the
shift lever in the P (Park) position.
If you press the ENGINE START/STOP
button without depressing the brake
pedal for dual clutch transmission vehi-
cles, the engine will not start and the
ENGINE START/STOP button
changes as follow:
OFF ➔ACC ➔ON ➔OFF or ACC
Not illuminated AmberRed

513
Driving your vehicle
✽ ✽

NOTICE
If you leave the ENGINE START/
STOP button in the ACC or ON
position for a long time, the battery
will discharge.
Starting the hybrid system✽ ✽
NOTICE
• The hybrid system will start by
pressing the Engine Start/Stop
button, only when the smart key is
in the vehicle.
• Even when the smart key is in the
vehicle, if it is far away from the
driver, the hybrid system may not
start.
• When the Engine Start/Stop but-
ton is in the ACC or ON position,
and any door is open, the system
checks for the smart key. When
the smart key is not in the vehicle,
the “ ” indicator will blink and
the warning “Key not in vehicle”
will come on. When all doors are
closed, the chime will also sound
for about 5 seconds. Keep the
smart key in the vehicle when in
the ACC position or if the hybrid
system is ON.
WARNING- Starting
vehicle
Never press the ENGINE
START/STOP button while the
vehicle is in motion except in an
emergency. This would result in
loss of directional control and
braking function, which could
cause an accident.
WARNING
Always wear appropriate
shoes when operating your
vehicle. Unsuitable shoes,
such as high heels, ski boots,
sandals, flip-flops, etc., may
interfere with your ability to
use the brake and accelerator
pedals.
Do not start the vehicle with the
accelerator pedal depressed.
The vehicle can move and
lead to an accident.

Driving your vehicle
14 5
1. Always carry the smart key with
you.
2. Make sure the parking brake is
applied.
3. Make sure the shift lever is in P
(Park).
4. Depress the brake pedal.
5. Press the Engine Start/Stop but-
ton. If the hybrid system starts, the
“ ” indicator will come on.✽ ✽
NOTICE
• Do not wait for the engine to warm
up while the vehicle remains sta-
tionary.
Start driving at moderate engine
speeds. (Steep accelerating and
decelerating should be avoided.)
• Always start the vehicle with your
foot on the brake pedal. Do not
depress the accelerator while
starting the vehicle. Do not race
the engine while warming it up.
• If ambient temperature is low, the
“ ” indicator may remain illu-
minated longer than the normal
amount of time.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
To prevent damage to the vehicle:
• If the “ ” indicator turns off
while you are in motion, do not
attempt to move the shift lever to
the P (Park) position.
If traffic and road conditions per-
mit, you may put the shift lever in
the N (Neutral) position while the
vehicle is still moving and press
the Engine Start/Stop button in an
attempt to restart the hybrid sys-
tem.
• Do not push or tow your vehicle to
start the hybrid system.

515
Driving your vehicle
If the battery is weak or the smart
key does not work correctly, you
can start the engine by pressing
the engine start/stop button with
the smart key.
The side with the lock button
should contact the engine
start/stop button directly.
When you press the engine
start/stop button directly with the
smart key, the smart key should
contact the button at a right angle. When the stop lamp fuse is blown,
you can't start the engine normally.
Replace the fuse with a new one. If
it is not possible, you can start the
engine by pressing the ENGINE
START/STOP button for 10 sec-
onds while it is in the ACC posi-
tion. The engine can start without
depressing the brake pedal. But for
your safety always depress the
brake pedal before starting the
engine.
Do not press the ENGINE START/
STOP button for more than 10 sec-
onds except when the stop lamp fuse
is blown.
WARNING - Unintended
vehicle movement
Never leave the smart key in the
vehicle with children or vehicle
occupants who are unfamiliar
with the vehicle operation.
Pushing the ENGINE
START/STOP button while the
smart key is in the vehicle may
result in unintended engine
activation and/or unintended
vehicle movement.
ODEP059008

Driving your vehicle
16 5
Dual clutch transmission oper-
ation
The dual clutch transmission has six
forward speeds and one reverse
speed.
The individual speeds are selected
automatically in the D (Drive) posi-
tion.
DUAL CLUTCH TRANSMISSION (DCT)
ODE056010
The shift lever can freely operate. Press the shift button while moving the shift lever. Depress the brake pedal and press the shift button while moving the shift lever.
❈To move the shift lever from/to P (Parking) or between R (Reverse) and D (Drive), you
must depress the brake pedal for the vehicle to stand still.

517
Driving your vehicle
The dual Clutch Transmission
gives the driving feel of a manual
transmission, yet provides the
ease of a fully automatic transmis-
sion. Unlike a traditional automatic
transmission, the gear shifting can
be felt (and heard) on the dual
clutch transmission
- Think of it as an automatically
shifting manual transmission.
- Shift into Drive range and get fully
automatic shifting, similar to a con-
ventional automatic transmission.
Dual clutch transmission adopts
dry-type dual clutch, which is dif-
ferent from torque converter of
automatic transmission, and
shows better acceleration perform-
ance during driving. But, initial
launch might be little bit slower
than Automatic Transmission.
The dry-type clutch transfers torque
and provides a direct driving feeling
which may feel different from a con-
ventional automatic transmission
with a torque converter. This may be
more noticeable when starting from
a stop or low vehicle speed. When rapidly accelerating at low
vehicle speed, engine could rev at
high rpm depending on vehicle
drive condition.
For smooth launch uphill, press
down the accelerator pedal
smoothly depending on the current
conditions.
If you release your foot from the
accelerator pedal at low vehicle
speed, you may feel strong engine
brake, which is similar to manual
transmission.
When driving downhill, you may
use Sports Mode to downshift to a
lower gear in order to control your
speed without using the brake
pedal excessively.
When you turn the engine on and
off, you may hear clicking sounds
as the system goes through a self
test. This is a normal sound for the
dual Clutch Transmission.
WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death:
ALWAYS check the surround-
ing areas near your vehicle for
people, especially children,
before shifting a vehicle into
D (Drive) or R (Reverse).
Before leaving the driver’s
seat, always make sure the
shift lever is in the P (Park)
position, then set the parking
brake, and place the ignition
switch or ENGINE START/
STOP button in the OFF posi-
tion. Unexpected and sudden
vehicle movement can occur
if these precautions are not
followed.
Do not use engine braking
(shifting from a high gear to
lower gear) rapidly on slip-
pery roads. The vehicle may
slip, causing an accident.

Driving your vehicle
18 5
To hold the vehicle on a hill use the
foot brake or the parking brake. If
the vehicle is held by applying the
accelerator pedal on a hill the
clutch and transmission will be
overheated resulting in damage.
At this time, a warning message
(“Steep grade! Press brake pedal”)
will appear on the LCD display.
If the clutch becomes overheated
by excessive use of the clutch to
hold on a hill, you may notice a
shudder feeling and a blinking dis-
play on the instrument cluster.
When this occurs, the clutch is dis-
abled until the clutch cools to nor-
mal temperatures. If this occurs,
pull over to a safe location, shift
into P (Park) and apply the foot
brake for a certain time on the LCD
warning until it disappears.
If the LCD warning is active, the
foot brake must be applied.
Ignoring the warnings can lead to
damage to the transmission. If the display continues to blink, for
your safety, we recommend that you
contact an authorized Kia dealer.
Under certain conditions such as
repeated launch on steep grades,
the clutch in the transmission could
overheat.
When the clutch is overheated, the
safe protection mode engages. If
the safe protection mode engages,
the gear position indicator on the
cluster blinks with a chime sound.
At this time, one of these warning
messages (“Transmission temp. is
high! Stop safely”, “Trans hot! Park
with engine on”, “Trans Cooling.
Remain parked for 00 min.”, “Trans
Cooled. Resume driving”) will
appear on the LCD display and driv-
ing may not be smooth.
If you ignore this warning, the driv-
ing condition may become worse.
To return the normal driving condi-
tion, stop the vehicle and apply the
foot brake for a few minutes before
driving off. Gear shifts may be more notice-
able than a conventional automatic
transmission. This is a normal
characteristic of this type of dual
clutch transmission.
During the first 1,500 km (1,000
miles), you may feel that the vehi-
cle may not be smooth when accel-
erating at low speed. During this
break-in period, the shift quality
and performance of your new vehi-
cle is continuously optimized.
Always come to a complete stop
before shifting into D (Drive) or R
(Reverse).
Do not put the shift lever in N
(Neutral) while driving.