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Melissa McCarthy sent fleeing in the Kia Niro Super Bowl teaser

The Super Bowl is drawing near and with it comes a cavalcade of over-the-top and outrageously expensive mid-game ads. The cult of the commercial has grown so large that 60-second ads are getting 15-second teasers. For Kia's eighth year at the Super Bowl, the Korean automaker will be promoting its new hybrid, the Niro. The company released a new trailer hyping its third-quarter ad slot. The teaser doesn't actually feature the Niro. Instead flag-waving actor Melissa McCarthy is shown screaming and fleeing across a field from some unknown assailant, presumably the Niro's rival, a Toyota Prius, done up like the War Rig from Mad Max Fury Road. Kia promises the game day commercial will trace "a heroic and harrowing journey stretching from the polar ice caps to an arid desert" all while showing why the Niro is a new type of crossover. We really just want to know what's written on the flag. Related Video:

Kia sold 123 North American Soul EVs in October

How happy were those Kia hamsters last month? We're guessing they were pretty pleased, because reports are out that the South Korean automaker sold 123 Kia Soul electric vehicles in North America during the model's first month of sales on the continent. Now crank up that funky music. Kia sold 109 Soul EVs in the US and another 14 in Canada, Kia-World reports (the site is unaffiliated with the automaker). Kia's expected to move about 5,000 Soul EVs in North America by the end of next year. Kia spokesman James Hope, in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen, said the automaker doesn't specifically disclose the number of gas and electric Soul models it sells in North America. Those volume numbers are on par with lower-volume electric variants of conventional models that are generally positioned as "compliance" vehicles (i.e., vehicles sold specifically to comply with California's zero-emissions vehicle mandate). For instance, the Ford Focus Electric sold 186 units in the US last month, while the Smart ForTwo ED electric moved 150 vehicles. Honda sold 23 Fit EVs in October. The Kia Soul EV has base price of $33,700 and a single-charge range of 93 miles. You can read our Quick Spin impressions of the new EV here.

Kia Niro EV concept coming to CES

Kia announced that it will show a new electric concept car at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The announcement didn't explicitly say what the vehicle is, but that's fine, because the teaser images above reveal the car's "secret" identity. At the back of the car are bright glowing letters spelling out the name "Niro EV." Even without seeing the name, the images make it pretty clear this is a Niro of some sort. The profile fits the production hybrid and plug-in hybrid production cars, especially the upright and wide rear hatch. It also has the Niro's distinct hood with twin creases above the headlights. There are a number of styling changes, though, mainly up front. The headlights look to be more swept back and have LED strakes for style. The taillights mirror this design, and they add a center portion between the main elements to make the lights full width. Additional three-pointed fog lights are also added front and rear. The grille at the front is no longer a grille, instead now featuring a bunch of little lights. This may have something to do with the "motion graphic" lighting technology Kia will show on the car, since it looks like the pattern and intensity could change. The shape of this faux grille panel also looks wider and slimmer than that on the production Niro. On the topic of production Niros, we wouldn't be surprised if this full EV Niro makes it to market. The Niro is based on the Hyundai Ioniq, which itself offers normal hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full electric variants. And since the Niro is already available in hybrid and plug-in versions, a full EV would round out the model nicely. It wouldn't be without work, since the electric version of the Ioniq has a torsion bar suspension rather than the multi-link setup in the hybrid Ioniqs and Niros in order to fit the larger battery pack, but it's far from impossible. Stay tuned for more info on the concept and any news on a production version. Related Video: