Did you have a conversation with this "dealer"? (were you actually talking to a person). If not, I suspect the car's computer is using your phone (god knows how! Bluetooth? WiFi?) to transmit a pre-recorded message. Neither has happened to me in the UK.

My car has the 18" low profile tyres but it doesn't make a harsh sound.

Also, in Sports mode the petrol engine is running most, if not all, of the time so that full power is immediately available. Again, lower mpg.

Ambient lighting usually refers to subtle led lights in the footwells, internal door handles, around the roof control panels etc. I had this on my Ford Focus Titanium X, but haven't seen it on the Niro.

Very interesting, and I concur with all your findings, apart from the speed limiter that I use all the time in urban driving. It would be interesting to know how your electricity bill has changed over the 19 months.

mpg is entirely dependent on how much you "put your foot down". Sports mode "encourages" you put it down harder, and hence will give you less mpg.

I'm not surprised the maps don't show lay-bys. Many roads on my trips have lay-bys and none of them show. What I can't understand is what you are seeing on the map when it's telling you to turn right. Is it showing and trying to send you down a road on the map that doesn't exist in reality? Ref. the...

First one : subjective, I think the red is classy Second one : when the Sat-Nav tells you to turn right, does the map show roads that presumably don't exist? Third one: why do you have to switch the phone on and off, why not just leave it on all the time? You say "detects when.....but doesn't switch...

Perhaps another thing to fret about is that petrol "goes off" over a long period of time. If you never use fuel at all, then at worst you might end up with a tank of fuel that gives poor performance, in terms of power and mpg. Google it, there's a number of articles about it.

Actually ICEs are very efficient at generating heat, they're inefficient at providing propulsion. You say your engine is running for 4-5 miles, have you tried keeping an eye on the temperature gauge? The Niro is supposed to have a rapid warm-up system, even extracting heat from the exhaust manifold....