327 Kia Niros held TLC licenses on October 12, 2026: 317 for-hire vehicles (FHVs) and 10 yellow taxis. Most are the battery-electric Niro, not the hybrid. With 302 electric cars, the Niro is the sixth most common EV on TLC plates, well behind the Tesla Model Y but ahead of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Its 10 yellow taxis also make it the 11th most common medallion taxi model. The per-model data doesn't split those 10 taxis by powertrain; across all 10,236 authorized taxis, only 26 decode as battery electric.
How we counted
Neither TLC's FHV list nor its medallion vehicle list has a model column. TLC Help decoded each VIN with NHTSA's vPIC decoder. vPIC names the model family, so "Niro" covers the Niro, Niro Electric and Niro Plug-in Hybrid together; the powertrain split comes from vPIC's fuel fields.
The 2022 wave
More than half of all TLC Niros are model year 2022. After 2023 the numbers drop sharply: 25 cars from 2024, 5 from 2025 and just 1 from 2026. Most new FHVs today are newer than that; about 31% of all FHVs are model year 2024 or newer, against 9.5% of Niros.
The timing fits TLC's licensing history. For a period, TLC issued new FHV licenses for electric vehicles. Its FHV license page says a court order obtained by NYTWA (the New York Taxi Workers Alliance) made TLC stop accepting new EV applications on November 13, 2023. The data can't show how each Niro was licensed, but the drop after 2023 is consistent with that door closing. Read EV FHV license rules for what this means if your license was issued as an EV license.
Electric, mostly
The EPA rates the Niro Electric at 239 miles of range for 2022 (EPA) and 253 miles for 2023 (EPA). The 2022 Niro hybrid is rated 49 mpg combined (EPA). The same year's FE trim is rated 50 mpg and the Touring trim 43 mpg, and the Niro Plug-in Hybrid can go about 26 miles on electricity before its gas engine takes over (EPA). If you are shopping for a used TLC Niro, check the window sticker or VIN: the electric, hybrid and plug-in versions look alike but cost very different amounts to run. These are test figures; full-shift driving, heat, cold and highway speed all change real range.
Before you rely on an electric Niro for full shifts, read NYC EV charging for TLC drivers and estimate your fuel savings in the EV savings tool.
FHV and yellow taxi
316 Niros are at black car bases, 1 at a livery base, and 10 are authorized medallion taxis, model years 2020 to 2023. No Niros are marked wheelchair accessible.
The taxi route is now closed for new Niros. TLC's hack-up page says that since October 18, 2024, every taxi hack-up must be an accessible vehicle, even on a medallion that is not an accessible medallion. When one of those 10 taxis reaches its retirement date, it has to be replaced with an approved accessible model. See TLC vehicle retirement age and TLC vehicle inspection.
See the Toyota bZ4X, Cadillac Lyriq, Fisker Ocean and EV vs hybrid for Uber in NYC, plus the full list in TLC fleet by make and model.
More in the vehicles topic.
Data on this page
Aggregates of public data. They describe trips and vehicles, never individual people.
TLC's vehicle lists have no make/model column, so TLC Help decoded the VIN of every licensed vehicle with NHTSA's vPIC decoder (one representative VIN per manufacturer + model-descriptor + model-year pattern) and published only counts. 5 of 115,081 vehicles (0%) could not be decoded to a model and are left out. vPIC sometimes reports trim-family names (e.g. 'RX' not 'RX 350h'); powertrain comes from vPIC's electrification/fuel fields and may misclassify a few model years. Snapshot lists change daily.
- Kia Niro: licensed TLC vehicles by model year — Active FHVs and authorized medallion taxis that are a Kia Niro, by model year.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Model year from TLC's vehicle_year / model_year columns. Age limits for TLC vehicles come from TLC rules, not this chart.
- Kia Niro in the TLC fleet: hybrid, electric or gas — Licensed Kia Niro vehicles by powertrain (from decoded VINs).NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Kia Niro: where it is licensed (FHV base type vs medallion taxi) — Licensed Kia Niro vehicles by fleet: FHVs by the type of base they are affiliated with, and medallion taxis.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Wheelchair-accessible (FHV list): 0 WAV, 0 PILOT. App-based (high-volume) work generally runs through black car bases.
- Most common battery-electric models in the TLC fleet — Battery-electric vehicles among active FHVs and medallion taxis, by model (decoded VINs).NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How many Kia Niros are licensed by the TLC?
327 on October 12, 2026: 317 for-hire vehicles and 10 yellow (medallion) taxis, or 0.28% of the TLC fleet. TLC Help counted them by decoding VINs with NHTSA's vPIC decoder.
Are most TLC Niros electric?
Yes. 302 of 327 (92.4%) decode as battery electric, 23 as hybrid and 2 as plug-in hybrid. That makes the Niro the sixth most common battery-electric model on TLC plates.
What range does a Niro Electric have?
The EPA rates the 2019, 2020 and 2022 Niro Electric at 239 miles and the 2023 model at 253 miles on a full charge. Real range in city driving, heat or cold can be different.
Can I still get new TLC plates for an electric Niro?
No. TLC's FHV license page says a court order obtained by NYTWA made TLC stop accepting new EV FHV license applications on November 13, 2023. New FHV licenses now go only to approved wheelchair accessible vehicles, and the Niro is not one.
Can a Niro still become a yellow taxi?
Not as a new hack-up. TLC's hack-up page says that since October 18, 2024 every vehicle hacked up as a taxi must be wheelchair accessible. The 10 Niro taxis already authorized can stay in service under the taxi retirement rules.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC Open Data: For Hire Vehicles (FHV) – Active (8wbx-tsch) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Medallion Vehicles – Authorized (rhe8-mgbb) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NHTSA vPIC VIN decoder API vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2022 Kia Niro Electric fueleconomy.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2023 Kia Niro Electric fueleconomy.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2022 Kia Niro (hybrid) fueleconomy.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2022 Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid fueleconomy.gov
- TLC: Get a For-Hire Vehicle License nyc.gov
- TLC: Yellow Cab Hack-Up nyc.gov
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it against the official source.
TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.