The MY22 should be homologated for 300 kg towing so you could fit any towbar I think (not 100% sure about the UK though but I think this is the case). From there on you can fit any towbar compatible carrier you wish.

 

Thanks Xinx. I have checked with the dealership and Kia UK and the electric Niro in the UK doesn't have a towing capacity. I'm stuck with the only option of installing the 'Brink' cycle only towbar.

I'm surprised not to have received any recommendations with towbar conversations going into multiples of pages. Or perhaps no one has a BuzzRack bike carrier?

 

Thanks Xinx. I have checked with the dealership and Kia UK and the electric Niro in the UK doesn't have a towing capacity. I'm stuck with the only option of installing the 'Brink' cycle only towbar.

I'm surprised not to have received any recommendations with towbar conversations going into multiples of pages. Or perhaps no one has a BuzzRack bike carrier?

That's too bad.

About compatibility of bike carriers with specific towbars. In itself that's true. A bike carrier-only towbar will have two iron pins welded onto the iron ball which prevents you from putting anything over it that doesn't have the required notches.

However, when mine was installed I asked them to accidentally hold a grinder against those pins. They did and were so kind as to apply some special coating so it doesn't rust. With that, you can fit any bike carrier..

Mine is the GDW 2360T60

 

My BMW 2-Series Gran Tourer has a towball specifically for bike carriers. It’s an OEM solution specifically for BMW, but it’s manufactured by Brink. I bought a BMW cycle carrier to go with it. I presume that BMW cycle carriers could therefore be potential options for you. I bought my BMW cycle carrier 2nd hand on eBay. It has space for 2 cycles or e-bikes, and you can also buy an optional bolt-on extra rail which allows you to put a 3rd bike on it. It has the wiring cable for the integrated lights at the back, which I presume is standard?

 

Thank you Mark-Surrey for your response. I had not considered looking at bike carriers from different car manufacturers. Thank you for your recommendation, I'll certainly look into it

 

I checked my model of BMW cycle carrier. It’s called “BMW Rear Bike Carrier Pro 2.0”, and you can find more details at BMW rear bike rack Pro 2.0

I paid £233 for mine, second hand on eBay. I don’t know whether there is anything which would prevent you from using it on a non-BMW car. Mine had hardly been used. The 3rd cycle bracket which you can add to it (I don’t have it) is BMW part number 82722287888, and this additional rail sits above the number plate. You can find details on that at BMW extension set third bicycle for rear bicycle rack Pro 2.0

The maximum payload without the 3rd bracket is 60kg, which is reduced to 52kg if you have the 3rd bracket. The 3rd bracket can hold a maximum of 15kg

Good luck!

 

I'm grateful for the information you both have provided. Definitely options I will look into. Thanks again

 

I have just checked the label on my BMW cycle carrier to see who actually manufactures it for BMW. As you can see from the attached photo, it’s a German company called Uebler. They have a website showing various cycle carriers at

Auf die Kupplung, fertig, los! Uebler Fahrradträger

Uebler entwickelt und produziert seit 55 Jahren hochwertiges Autozubehör, vornehmlich Fahrradträger zur Montage auf die Anhängerkupplung.

www.uebler.com

I also included a photo showing what the towball attachment method looks like on this BMW cycle carrier. I have no idea whether this looks any different from standard towbar-mounted cycle carriers.

 

I got the Brink 'tow bar' fitted and use a Yakima JustClick2 rack. It's a brilliant rack, simple to use and holds a long slack mtb with big tires. The tilt mechanism allows the boot door to open, even with wide handle bars.

I considered the Altra racks however I found a few folks stating the tow ball locking mechanism was coming looser over time (perhaps +3yrs) due to a spring used in the clamping system. I want to keep this rack much longer than that so decided to spend a bit more and get the Yakima. The JustClick 2 can also have a 3rd bike tray added for a childs bike. I emailed BuzzRack, RoofBox and Brink about the Buzzracks, however they all stated the clamping mechanism is not compatible with the brink ball with pins. Shame as some of their racks look good.

Important note on number of bikes
The number of bikes you can carry is limited by the nose weight of the car, and limit of the bike rack, which given the eNiro isn't allowed to tow in the UK means a UK dealer probably won't give you the nose weight figure. I do NOT know the figure, but only carry one heavy bike and one light at most.
The eNiro is quite heavy, however it's not just about the mass but where it is that's important. ICE cars have lots of mass at the front axle with a heavy engine, this is good to counteract lots of weight on the tow bar. Lots of mass between the wheels (such as the eNiro battery) isn't as effective, so it's not a given that an eNiro will have a high nose weight. A nose weight large enough for 4 full sized adult bikes AND a suitable rack isn't that common (in the grand scheme of things) and limited to big SUVs, long estates and pickup trucks, so extremely unlikely that the eNiro can do this unless you have superlight race bikes. 3 full sized adult bikes or 2 eBikes are also likely a push.

If you want to carry lots of bikes you need to go find the maximum nose weight of an eNiro (PHEV or ICE is likely to be different), max load of the tow bar, max load of the bike carrier. The total mass of all the bikes you want to carry AND the rack (this always gets forgotten!) must be less than all these limits or you should not be carrying that load.

As an example assuming a typical nose weight of 75kg. If the rack weighs 21kg (JustClick3) and each bike 14kg the total is 63kg. Getting a 4th adult bike on there isn't happening, unless the bikes are very light.

 

We bought a Niro 4 last year and had a Brink detachable towbar fitted for just under £700 - not cheap but it ticked all our boxes - it is easy to fit and remove and works well with our Thule two bike carrier which is able to accommodate two heavy e-bikes if required (up to 30kg per bike. Usually we have one heavy ebike and one light one - total weight around 40kg. This has been fine for us.