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Kia Niro named in Guinness Book of Records with fuel efficiency

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Hypermiler Wayne Gerdes, right, and co-driver Robert Winger, left, with a Guinness World Records official in front of Kia Motors’ Niro hybrid crossover at New York City Hall, Sunday. / Courtesy of Kia Motors

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Kia Motors’ Niro crossover has been named in the Guinness Book of World Records for the lowest fuel consumption driving coast to coast across the U.S.

According to Kia Motors, Friday, two American drivers, Wayne Gerdes and Robert Winger, entered the Guinness Book of World Records for travelling 5,979 kilometers, or 3,715 miles, from Los Angeles to New York City with only 183.6 liters, or 48.5 gallons, of gas. The trip took a week from Dec. 4 to reach New York City Hall.

It is an average of 32.56 kilometers a liter, or 76.6 miles a gallon. The figure is 56.3 percent higher than the Niro EX’s official mileage of 20.83 kilometers a liter.

“We’re extremely pleased with the Niro’s record-breaking performance,” said Orth Hedrick, vice president for product planning at Kia Motors. “We set out to build a vehicle that offers real-world utility, great looks and fantastic mileage, and setting the Guinness World Record title confirms our achievement.”

This was not the first time Kia Motors and Gerdes have made it into the book for the record. They set a Guinness record by driving through the lower 48 states with the Kia Motors Optima Hybrid sedan, averaging 64.55 miles a gallon in 2011.